TRH Health Plan Data Breach (2014)

BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, which currently performs limited administrative services for certain health care plans offered by TRH Health Plans, recently used and disclosed a limited amount of TRH member Protected Health Information in an unauthorized and inappropriate manner according to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.TRH discovered this event on or about Nov. 16, 2014, and immediately initiated an investigation of the circumstances. TRH has verified BCBST disclosed the name, address and identification number of certain TRH members, but no other protected health information was disclosed for unauthorized uses.BCBST included the TRH member information in a mailing list it created for a BCBST marketing mailing soliciting TRH members. Accordingly, the limited PHI described above was made available to a business unit within BCBST responsible for marketing, as well as to a third party vendor engaged by BCBST to assist with the mailing. TRH has directed BCBST and received assurances that TRH member information is no longer in the hands of these entities.Given the limited amount of PHI involved and steps taken to prevent further disclosure, TRH Health Plans _ a Tennessee Farm Bureau-affiliated service company _ believes any potential harm to its members has been mitigated.TRH has worked with BCBST to prevent this from reoccurring in the future. In an abundance of caution, however, TRH is notifying the affected members of the disclosure. Letters outlining the specific details of the PHI violations are being mailed to affected TRH members at this time. - See more at: http://columbiadailyherald.com/news/business/trh-health-announces-data-breach#sthash.IGrvRcqN.dpuf