The covered entity (CE), Weslaco Regional Rehabilitation Hospital, reported that it was the victim of an email phishing attack that affected the electronic protected health information (ePHI) of approximately 1,434 individuals. The ePHI involved included names, addresses, birthdates, drivers’ license information, Social Security numbers, diagnoses/conditions, medications prescribed, and other treatment 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 sensitive data. Staff members were retrained to properly identify fraudulent email communications. OCR obtained assurances that the CE implemented the corrective actions noted.
