Protected health information and pharmacy records belonging to nursing home residents at HarborChase of Mandarin in Jacksonville, Fla., were recently discovered strewn along the roadside in northeast Florida, according to a Feb. 23 First Coast News report.
The paper records, which were found miles away from the assisted living facility, included protected health information from Guardian pharmacy, which notified HarborChase of the breach upon learning of the incident.
Individual protected health information exposed included names, birth dates, medication prescriptions and Social Security numbers, according to the report. HarborChase told First Coast News it is investigating the shredding company it hired to safely dispose of the records.
"HarborChase contracts with a third-party vendor to dispose of materials containing sensitive resident and company data," a facility spokesperson said. "All materials recovered were items that were disposed of through the proper procedure and sent out for destruction through the third-party vendor."
The facility said its investigation is ongoing and is working to determine how the breach occurred in order to prevent future instances.