Zachary E. Adkins, DDS

OCR opened an investigation of the covered Entity (CE), Zachary E. Adkins, DDS, after it reported that an unencrypted external hard drive containing the electronic protected health information (ePHI) of 3,677 individuals was stolen from a workforce member’s vehicle. The ePHI included patients’ names, addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, social security numbers, treatment information, medical information, and insurance information. Upon discovering the breach, the CE filed a police report and engaged a third-party service provider to assist in security compliance efforts. The CE provided breach notification to HHS and affected individuals, as well as substitute notice and media notification in localities with greater than 500 affected individuals. The CE offered one year of free identity theft services to affected individuals. Following the breach, the CE revised its security procedures regarding the removal of mobile devices to cease removing unencrypted mobile devices from the facility’s premises. The CE also retrained workforce members on the requirements of the Security and Privacy Rules. OCR obtained assurances that the CE implemented the corrective actions noted above.