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                              HHS Settles with Health Plan in Photocopier Breach Case


    

    

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HHS Settles with Health Plan in Photocopier Breach Case








  
  
    

  
      





Under a settlement with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Affinity Health Plan, Inc. will settle potential violations of the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules for $1,215,780.  OCR’s investigation indicated that Affinity impermissibly disclosed the protected health information of up to 344,579 individuals when it returned multiple photocopiers to a leasing agent without erasing the data contained on the copier hard drives. In addition, the investigation revealed that Affinity failed to incorporate the electronic protected health information stored in copier’s hard drives in its analysis of risks and vulnerabilities as required by the Security Rule, and failed to implement policies and procedures when returning the hard drives to its leasing agents.

Read the Resolution Agreement
	For Information on OCR’s Enforcement Activities
	Read the Press Release
	To File a Health Information Privacy or Security Complaint
	View the Federal Trade Commission’s guidance on safeguarding sensitive data stored in the hard drives of digital copiers
	The National Institute of Standards and Technology has issued guidance on assessing the security of multipurpose office machines
	OCR offers free training on compliance with the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules for continuing medical education credit

                    
  


Content created by Office for Civil Rights (OCR) Content last reviewed June 7, 2017Back to top
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