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Houston Methodist Hospital

ArchivedSubmitted 09/25/2017
State
TX
Covered entity type
Healthcare Provider
Individuals affected
1,359
Business associate present
No
Type of breach
Unauthorized Access/Disclosure
Location of breached information
Email
First seen by InfoSec Signals
9/23/2026
Last seen in OCR export
9/23/2026

OCR description

A workforce member sent an email to 1,359 patients without using the “blind carbon copy” or “bcc” field, which allowed the patients to see each other’s email addresses. The covered entity (CE) provided breach notification to HHS. affected individuals, and the media. In response to the incident, the CE updated technical safeguards and re-trained its workforce members on the proper use of email when communicating with patients. OCR obtained assurances that the CE implemented the corrective actions listed above.

Change history

  • 9/23/2026Added to OCR's archive list

Source: HHS OCR Breach Portal, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights about this source

Records are reproduced as published; entity names and figures are OCR's.

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