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 July 13, 2018.
- Organization as reported
- New England Dermatology, P.C., MA
- Entity type as reported
- Healthcare Provider
- Category as reported
Improper Disposal
- Location of information as reported
- Paper/Films
- Submission date
- July 13, 2018
- Observed by BreachRecords
- 2026-10-18 16:15 UTC (revision 13754, row:4893)
- Archived copy
- Held in the private archive (provenance)
The covered entity (CE), New England Dermatology P.C., reported that one of its locations, Northampton, improperly disposed of patient records containing protected health information (PHI) by failing to shred them prior to disposal in a dumpster. The PHI included names, mailing addresses, dates of service, and clinical information. The CE provided breach notification to HHS, affected individuals, and the media and also provided substitute notice. Following the breach, the CE implemented a new procedure for disposal of PHI and trained staff on its new compliance procedures. The 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.