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Regulator-posted notice

Breach notice filed by VA Palo Alto Health Care System (March 2018)

Organization named: VA Palo Alto Health Care System Provisional: identity as filed, not yet matched to the directory
Type as the source lists it: Unauthorized Access/Disclosure

What the sources say

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 March 26, 2018.

Organization as reported
VA Palo Alto Health Care System, CA
Entity type as reported
Healthcare Provider
Category as reported
Unauthorized Access/Disclosure
Location of information as reported
Paper/Films
Submission date
March 26, 2018
Observed by BreachRecords
2026-10-18 16:15 UTC (revision 13882, row:5021)
Archived copy
Held in the private archive (provenance)

The VA Palo Alto Health Care System, a Veteran’s Affairs facility and covered entity (CE), reported a breach incident affecting 1,600 individuals in December 2017. During a mass mailing to recruit for a research study, the research study worker used an electronic mail merge and mixed up names and addresses on mailed postcards. The postcards contained protected health information (PHI), including clinical and demographic information. The VA provided breach notification to individuals, HHS, and the media. OCR obtained assurances that the VA took voluntary corrective action by re-sending the postcards correctly, training research study staff on proper handling of PHI and on the mail merge system, and revising its procedure so that a second person checks mail merged documents against a master list before mailing.

The source's own words, from the revision above.

Figures, per source

  • 1,600 individuals affected (total reported), according to the HHS Office for Civil Rights breach portal, source date March 26, 2018, revision observed 2026-10-18.

Each figure is one source's figure with the basis that source gave. Figures from different sources are shown side by side and are not added, averaged or chosen between.

Timeline

Source dates are the dates the sources give. Observation dates are when BreachRecords recorded each revision.

  • Submission date (HHS Office for Civil Rights breach portal)
  • Observed by BreachRecords (revision 13882)
  • Approved by a reviewer

Organizations linked by a reviewer

  • VA Palo Alto Health Care System Named as the covered entity Provisional: identity as filed, not yet matched to the directory Linked 2026-10-19, method provisional.

Archived evidence

  • 3dbc27dd5742e041cc1e7fe18cc669e2901fbd3b86b7007ed27948ff4d406e1f
    text/csv, 5,530,996 bytes, retrieved from HHS Office for Civil Rights breach portal, 2026-10-18 16:15 UTC. Archived privately · Provenance · Source page

Records reflect source filings as of the dates shown. BreachRecords is not a regulator.

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