On February 13, 2018, the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced a $100,000 settlement with a court-appointed receiver representing Filefax, Inc. (Filefax) arising from the 2015 discovery of medical records that contained protected health information (PHI) of over two thousand individuals in a dumpster. Filefax, a now-defunct medical records moving and storage company located in Illinois, acted as a business associate under HIPAA.

OCR initiated an investigation in February, 2015, after receiving an anonymous complaint concerning medical records that had been discovered and delivered to a facility for shredding and recycling. OCR’s investigation indicated that Filefax impermissibly disclosed PHI of 2,150 individuals over a two week span in early 2015 by leaving PHI in an unlocked truck in Filefax’s parking lot, or by leaving PHI within medical records sitting outside of Filefax’s business for a third party to collect.
Continue Reading Dumpster Diving Leads to $100,000 Fine for Defunct Business Associate Due to Improper Disposal of Medical Records