Washington State Department of Social and Health Services

Washington Department of Social and Health Services (WA) reported a data breach involving 8,600 individuals. The incident involved unauthorized access to or disclosure of information stored on a laptop. The filing was submitted on June 30, 2026.

Washington State Department of Social and Health Services reported to HHS on 2017-11-16 an Unauthorized Access/Disclosure affecting 515 individuals. On September 20, 2017, a Western State Hospital staff member misdirected an email containing a spreadsheet to a private email address. The spreadsheet contained patient names, hospital admission dates, medical record numbers, birthdates, and diagnoses. The recipient deleted the email and attachment. OCR's investigation led to new access-restriction procedures, a risk analysis, and workforce retraining.

WA State Department of Social & Health Services reported to HHS on 2014-02-11 a mailing error (coded as 'Other, Unauthorized Access/Disclosure') affecting 3,104 individuals. Breached information was on Paper/Films. A coding error in an internal database caused mail to be sent to incorrect client addresses. PHI exposed may have included names, addresses, client IDs, dates of birth, SSNs, diagnoses, and financial information. OCR investigated, provided technical assistance on notification timeliness, and obtained assurances corrective actions were completed.

Washington State Department of Social and Health Services (Health Plan, WA) reported to HHS OCR on 2011-08-09 an Unauthorized Access/Disclosure breach affecting 3,950 individuals. Breached information was located on Paper/Films. No business associate was involved. No further detail is available from the HHS portal web description.