BJC HealthCare Accountable Care Organization Data Breach (2015)

BJC HealthCare Accountable Care Organization (BJC ACO) has notified 2,393 patients that identifying information was sent to a participating medical practice through an unencrypted email. All affected patients have been offered identity theft protection free of charge. BJC ACO discovered on Dec. 30, 2015, that an email containing health information without the required security encryption was sent to a participating BJC ACO medical practice. The email was delivered to the correct and intended recipient. It contained a list of patients that included name, gender, date of birth and Medicare beneficiary identification number. The email did NOT contain medical information such as diagnosis, tests, results, treatment or hospitalization, or financial data. BJC ACO investigated the email transmission and has discovered no indication that anyone other than the intended and authorized recipient at the medical practice read or accessed the email. BJC ACO has taken steps to re-educate staff on the process for sending emails in a secure manner. Encryption is a process that translates information into a format that cannot be easily understood by an unauthorized recipient. It is required to be used when transmitting protected/personal health information (PHI) between health care providers.