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 June 27, 2016.
- Organization as reported
- Linda J White, DDS, PC, VA
- Entity type as reported
- Healthcare Provider
- Category as reported
Improper Disposal
- Location of information as reported
- Other Portable Electronic Device
- Submission date
- June 27, 2016
- Observed by BreachRecords
- 2026-10-18 16:15 UTC (revision 14492, row:5631)
- Archived copy
- Held in the private archive (provenance)
On June 27, 2016, the covered entity (CE), Dr. Linda White, reported that an external hard drive device containing a backup of the dental practice's computer server was not returned for proper destruction by an employee. Approximately 2,000 individuals were affected by the breach and the types of protected health information (PHI) stolen included patients’ names, dates of births, social security numbers, and limited medical information. The CE provided breach notification to HHS, affected individuals, and the media. The CE determined after a formal risk assessment that the level of risk was very low because the stolen hard drive required specific software to be utilized for the employee to gain access to the patients’ PHI. OCR obtained assurances that the CE implemented the corrective actions listed. County officials initiated prosecution of the employee who possessed the hard drive device.