The billings records contained patients’ Social Security numbers, birth dates, names and addresses — information that could be abused by identity thieves.

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Sensitive Patient Records Found Scattered At Shopping Center – Denver News Story – KMGH Denver.

A long-time disabilities counselor in Portsmouth, Ohio employed by the state to help people find jobs, is in hot water with the Ohio Inspector General’s office for dumping confidential records.

State officials said that the counselor was placed on administrative leave Tuesday after discarding those documents in a dumpster.

The documents that were found in the dumpster next to the Portsmouth office contained social security numbers and medical records.

A man was arrested in Hawaii as a result of the improper disposal of patient records from a closed eating-disorder clinic he purchased but never reopened.

According to the report, Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) pursued the case.  The report also makes clear that the man was arrested for making false claims about the improper disposal; not for HIPAA violations.

It is still clear that all law enforcement are taking improper disposal much more seriously than in the past.

The company hired by the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) to conduct nationwide HIPAA privacy and security compliance audits was responsible for a breach that includes the loss of an unencrypted flash drive and affects more than 4,500 patient records.

Membership files with credit card, social security and driver’s license information from the 509 Fitness in Kennewick were thrown into a dumpster in the same lot