HealthPoint Family Care, Inc. (“HealthPoint”), a federally-qualified health center headquartered
in Newport, Kentucky, and featuring multiple Kentucky-based office locations, has discovered a
breach of certain dental patient information and is in the process of notifying the affected patients
by mail.
Recently, HealthPoint became aware that a now-terminated employee had been sending emails
from their work email account to their personal, home email accounts which contained protected
health information (“PHI”) pertaining to various HealthPoint dental patients.
No credit card, debit card, bank account, home address, or Social Security numbers were included
within the transferred PHI.
The attachments consisted of various types of HealthPoint’s internal documents; however, the PHI
involved was limited to patient names, HealthPoint ID numbers, dates of birth, gender, race,
ethnicity, dental service codes, and the name of the treating HealthPoint provider. The transferred
PHI did not include any clinical documents or medical records. The former employee’s network
account, work email, and access to clinical systems and medical records had been properly disabled
upon their termination.
Upon discovering the incident, HealthPoint took steps to confinn with the former employee that
all PHI in their possession has been or is being destroyed or deleted, and that the former employee
will not retain or share any of the information and will not attempt to recreate any of the
information.
HealthPoint has policies and procedures to safeguard and protect the privacy and security of its
patients’ health information. Also, all HealthPoint employees are required to complete training on
an annual basis concerning patient privacy and compliance with the federal Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”).
This incident impacted more than 500 HealthPoint dental patients. Under HIPAA, for any PHI
breach affecting more than 500 residents, HealthPoint is required to provide notice of the breach
to prominent media outlets, which is the purpose for this press release. If any HealthPoint patients
have questions or concerns, they may contact HealthPoint at 859-392-8015
HealthPoint is a nonprofit healthcare organization dedicated to patient wellness. HealthPoint
provides adult and pediatric medical, dental, mental health, substance abuse treatment, obstetrics
and gynecology, and vision services. Services are provided to walk-in patients, as well as same¬
day appointments and evening and weekend hours for the convenience of our patients.
HealthPoint’s offices are located in Northern and Central Kentucky and so are easily accessible to
the Northern Kentucky/Cincinnati and Lexington regions. HealthPoint’s vision is a community
where everyone has access to quality, affordable health care. HealthPoint’s mission is to be the
best provider of health services through compassion, innovation, and excellence. Additionally,
HealthPoint can be reached in multiple languages. Visit www.healthpointfc.org for more
