Clay County Health Center begins HIPAA investigation due to anonymous tip

An individual sent a tip to KMBC 9 showing a list of personal information from the Clay County Public Health Centers dashboard. The list showed individuals who tested positive for COVID-19, with at least 16 cases from the Pleasant Valley Manor Care Center.

On June 9, there were 52 reported cases and two deaths from the Pleasant Valley Nursing home.

The dashboard contained a drop-down menu online where others can view and search COVID-19 cases by city and ZIP code to further obtain personal information. This option has been removed from the dashboard.

A statement from Kelsey Neth, Health Centers spokeswoman, discusses the HIPAA investigation for the company.

“We are following HIPAA standards and currently have our HIPAA Privacy Officer and HIPAA Security Officer thoroughly investigating the matter,” Neth said.

The Clay County Public Health website states the following under a tab about their HIPAA Privacy Notice.

“At the Clay County Public Health Center, maintaining the privacy of your health information is an important part of our business. The law requires us to keep your medical information private and to provide you a notice about our privacy practices.”

The HIPAA Privacy Notice can be found here.

This is currently an ongoing investigation.