NYU Hospital for Joint Diseases Inventory Management Department

A box containing 2,600 paper records of tissue implants used in surgeries was discarded by a waste disposal contractor of the covered entity (CE), NYU Hospital for Joint Diseases Inventory Management Department, when the box was not property secured. The box contained the protected health information (PHI) of 2,239 individuals and included names, dates of birth, dates of surgery, surgeon names, procedures, and types and serial numbers of the tissues used in the surgeries. Upon discovery of the breach, the CE contacted the waste disposal contractor and determined that the documents were discarded and buried in a landfill out of state. The CE provided breach notification to HHS, the media, and affected individuals, and posted substitute notice on its website. As a result of OCR's investigation, the CE improved safeguards by storing all tissue records in a locked cabinet and requiring management to store the keys. In addition, the CE counseled the employees involved in the incident and retrained all staff on its policies and procedures for safeguarding PHI. The CE also implemented a plan to conduct reviews of HIPAA compliance, including both physical access and physical security risks.