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 Jan. 12, 2018.
- Organization as reported
- Western Washington Medical Group Inc., WA
- Entity type as reported
- Healthcare Provider
- Category as reported
Improper Disposal
- Location of information as reported
- Paper/Films
- Submission date
- Jan. 12, 2018
- Observed by BreachRecords
- 2026-10-18 16:15 UTC (revision 13942, row:5081)
- Archived copy
- Held in the private archive (provenance)
The covered entity's (CE) contracted janitorial service comingled the regular trash with shred bin materials containing the protected health information (PHI) of approximately 842 individuals that were ultimately disposed of in the general trash receptacle. The types of PHI involved included patients’ names, addresses, birthdates, claims information, diagnoses, conditions, lab results and medications. The CE provided breach notification to HHS, affected individuals, and the media and also provided a toll-free number and free identity theft protection services. The CE required the contractor to remind staff not to dispose of the documents in the shred bins and retrained staff specific to HIPAA. OCR obtained assurances that the CE implemented the corrective actions noted above.