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 May 7, 2013.
- Organization as reported
- Seattle - King County Department of Public Health, WA
- Entity type as reported
- Healthcare Provider
- Category as reported
Improper Disposal
- Location of information as reported
- Paper/Films
- Submission date
- May 7, 2013
- Observed by BreachRecords
- 2026-10-18 16:15 UTC (revision 15409, row:6548)
- Archived copy
- Held in the private archive (provenance)
The covered entity (CE), Public Health, Seattle & King County, discovered that the protected health information (PHI) of 450 to 750 clients was inadvertently disposed of improperly by being put in the regular recycling. The PHI involved in the breach included treatment or medical condition information, and may have included the social security numbers of five individuals. The CE provided breach notification to HHS, the media, and 2,300 individuals who had an appointment at the subject clinic during the four weeks prior to the incident. It also provided substitute notification. The CE improved safeguards by updating its PHI disposal policies and procedures. OCR’s investigation confirmed that the appropriate notifications were made, that corrective actions steps were taken, and required that the CE retrain all staff on its revised disposal policy.