The covered entity (CE), United Regional Health Care System, reported that an employee was the victim of an email phishing scheme that affected the electronic protected health information (ePHI) of 1,893 patients. The ePHI involved included names, Social Security numbers, drivers’ license numbers, passport data, health insurance information, dates of birth, and treatment and clinical information. The CE notified HHS, affected individuals, and the media. In its mitigation efforts, the CE implemented additional administrative, technical, and security safeguards to better protect its ePHI. In addition, the CE retrained its workforce members on the proper methods of identifying and responding to fraudulent email communications.
