HHS OCR breach portal (HIPAA breaches affecting 500 or more individuals) Primary notice
Posted on the HHS Office for Civil Rights breach portal with a submission date of Sept. 13, 2018.
- Organization as reported
- Leominster Dermatology LLP, MA
- Entity type as reported
- Healthcare Provider
- Category as reported
Unauthorized Access/Disclosure
- Location of information as reported
- Paper/Films
- Submission date
- Sept. 13, 2018
- Observed by BreachRecords
- 2026-10-18 16:15 UTC (revision 13692, row:4831)
- Archived copy
- Held in the private archive (provenance)
OCR opened an investigation of the covered entity (CE), New England Dermatology P.C., after it reported that one of its locations, Northampton, disposed of patient records containing protected health information (PHI) without shredding them prior to disposal in a dumpster. The PHI included demographic and clinical information. The CE provided breach notification to HHS, affected individuals, and the media and provided substitute notice as appropriate. Following the breach, the CE implemented a new HIPAA compliant procedure for disposal of PHI and trained staff on its new procedures. CE also hired a new business association (BA) to shred all records containing PHI and executed a HIPAA compliant BA agreement. As a result of OCR’s investigation, the CE implemented new policies and procedures.