HHS OCR breach portal (HIPAA breaches affecting 500 or more individuals) Primary notice
Posted on the HHS OCR breach portal (HIPAA breaches affecting 500 or more individuals) with a submission date of July 13, 2017.
- Organization as reported
- Detroit Medical Center, MI
- Entity type as reported
- Healthcare Provider
- Category as reported
Theft
- Location of information as reported
- Desktop Computer, Paper/Films
- Submission date
- July 13, 2017
- Observed by BreachRecords
- 2026-10-18 16:15 UTC (revision 14125, row:5264)
- Archived copy
- Held in the private archive (provenance)
The covered entity (CE), Detroit Medical Center, reported that an employee impermissibly disclosed protected health information (PHI) through unsecured text messages containing images of electronic health record content. The employee also printed and removed the paper copies from the CE’s facilities. The breach affected 1,529 individuals and the PHI involved included names, dates of birth, addresses, diagnoses/conditions, lab results, medications prescribed, and other treatment information. The covered entity notified affected individuals and media outlets. The covered entity sanctioned the employee involved and referred the incident to law enforcement for criminal prosecution. OCR obtained assurances that the CE implemented the corrective actions noted above.