Breach filing
ArchivedHoward University College of Dentistry: 80,915 individuals, Nov 2021.
Howard University College of Dentistry reported a breach of unsecured protected health information to the HHS Office for Civil Rights on 23 November 2021. The filing records the organisation as a healthcare provider in District of Columbia and lists 80,915 individuals affected, which makes it the 3rd largest of the 33 District of Columbia filings on the register and the 94th largest of the 715 filings submitted nationally in 2021. Among the 4 District of Columbia filings made in 2021 it ranks 2nd.
Individuals affected
80,915
As reported to HHS
Modelled cost (IBM 2025)
$12.9M
Method shown, not disclosed
Rank in DC
3rd
of 33 District of Columbia filings
Rank in 2021
94th
of 715 filings nationally
Section F.1 / The filing
As posted by HHS OCR
Every value below is the portal's own field for this filing, plus its rank within the register.
- Covered entity type
- Healthcare Provider
- Individuals affected
- 80,915
- Breach submission date
- 23 November 2021
- Submission year
- 2021
- Type of breach
- Hacking/IT Incident
- Location of breached information
- Electronic Medical Record
- Business associate present
- No
- Portal status
- listed in the HHS OCR breach portal archive
- Rank in District of Columbia by size
- 3rd of 33
- Rank in 2021 nationally
- 94th of 715
- District of Columbia median filing
- 2,416 individuals
- Register id (derived)
- DC-20211123-howard-university-college-of-dentistry
Section F.2 / In context
Where this filing sits in District of Columbia and in 2021
OCR classifies the incident as a hacking or IT incident, with the breached information held in an electronic medical record system. Hacking/IT Incident is the type recorded on 12 of the 33 District of Columbia filings (36%) and on 76% of all filings submitted in 2021. Electronic Medical Record appears on 6% of District of Columbia filings.
No business associate is recorded on the filing; 27% of District of Columbia filings do involve one. At 80,915 individuals the breach is 33 times the District of Columbia median filing of 2,416 and 20 times the national median of 4,000 across all 7,884 filings. It sits in the 10,000 to 99,999 band, which holds 1,938 filings.
As of 28 August 2026 the case is listed in the HHS OCR breach portal archive. OCR's closing summary of the case is reproduced in full below.
District of Columbia's breach notification statute (D.C. Code 28-3851 et seq.) requires notice to affected residents in the most expedient time possible and without unreasonable delay. Its attorney general threshold: 50 or more District residents. The HIPAA Breach Notification Rule ran alongside it: notice to affected individuals and to HHS without unreasonable delay and no later than 60 days after discovery, which is the clock that put this filing on the portal.
Multiplying 80,915 individuals by IBM's $160 customer-PII cost per record (Cost of a Data Breach 2025, the figure the site's calculator uses) gives a modelled $12.9M; the 2026 edition's $192 gives $15.5M. Both are modelled estimates with the method shown, not costs disclosed by Howard University College of Dentistry. For scale, IBM's 2026 average cost of a healthcare breach is $6.64M, so this filing models at 2.3 times the sector average.
Section F.3 / OCR closing summary
The portal's archived description, in full
Written by the Office for Civil Rights when the case was closed and reproduced verbatim from the HHS export.
The covered entity (CE), Howard University College of Dentistry, reported that it was the subject of a ransomware attack that affected the protected health information (PHI) of 80,915 individuals. The PHI involved included dental record numbers, dates of service, and health insurance information. The CE notified HHS, affected individuals, the media, and provided substitute notice. In its mitigation efforts, the CE implemented additional administrative, technical, and security safeguards to better protect its PHI.
Section F.5 / Modelled cost
80,915 individuals through IBM's per-record figures
Modelled cost / method shown, not a disclosed cost
ModelledIBM 2025 customer PII, $160 per record
$12.9M
80,915 x $160
IBM 2026 customer PII, $192 per record
$15.5M
80,915 x $192
Method: individuals affected, as reported by Howard University College of Dentistry to HHS, multiplied by IBM's customer-PII cost per record (Cost of a Data Breach 2025 Figure 6 and the 2026 edition). No cost has been disclosed by the entity for this filing; the figure is a planning estimate, not a fact about the breach. IBM's per-record figures come from mid-volume breaches and IBM cautions against applying them to breaches involving millions of records; the site's per-record page explains where the multiplication holds and where it breaks down.
Context: IBM's average cost of a healthcare breach is $6.64M in the 2026 report ($7.42M in 2025); the global average across all sectors was $4.44M in 2025.
Cost per record: method and limits / Healthcare breach cost, IBM 2026
Section F.6 / Notification clock
District of Columbia statute and the HIPAA rule
State notification statute
District of Columbia: D.C. Code 28-3851 et seq.
- Notice to individuals
- In the most expedient time possible and without unreasonable delay
- Attorney general threshold
- 50 or more District residents (No later than when residents are notified)
- Private right of action
- Yes: Treble damages or $1,500 per violation (whichever is greater), plus attorney fees
- Penalty
- Unfair or deceptive trade practice enforceable by the DC Attorney General; injunctive relief and restitution
The HIPAA Breach Notification Rule runs alongside the state statute: notice to affected individuals and to HHS without unreasonable delay and no later than 60 days after discovery.
Section F.7 / Peer filings
District of Columbia filings closest in size
Neighbours by size rank among District of Columbia filings in 2021, topped up from other years where 2021 has too few. Filings of 10,000 or more link to their own page.
| Covered entity | Type | Individuals | Submitted | Breach type | Location | BA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trusted Health Plans, Inc. | Health Plan | 200,665 | 26 Mar 2021 | |||
| Washington DC VA Medical Center | Healthcare Provider | 1,193 | 1 Nov 2021 | |||
| The George Washington University Medical Faculty Associates | Healthcare Provider | 576 | 13 Jul 2021 |
Index / Companion schedules
13 HHS breach register
→Hub: every filing, by state, year and entity.
04 Biggest breaches
→Mega-breaches with primary-source cost figures.
Industry / Healthcare
→IBM 2026: $6.64M average, 13 years at #1.
Regulation / HIPAA penalties
→OCR enforcement tiers and the 60-day rule.
11 50-state laws
→Deadline, AG threshold and penalties per state.
Cost / Per record
→Where the per-record model is reliable.
Provenance
Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights, Breach Portal (breaches affecting 500 or more individuals), retrieved 2026-08-28. Public domain. Individuals affected and dates as reported by the covered entity.
Portal: ocrportal.hhs.gov breach report. Statutory basis: HITECH Act section 13402(e)(4): the Secretary must post a list of breaches of unsecured protected health information affecting 500 or more individuals. Breaches affecting fewer than 500 individuals are reported to OCR annually and are not posted, so they are not on this register. Status wording follows the portal's two tabs ("Cases Currently Under Investigation" and "Archive") as of 28 August 2026; a filing moves to the archive when OCR closes the case. Modelled costs on this site are a method applied to the reported count, using IBM Cost of a Data Breach per-record figures, and are never a cost disclosed by the entity. This row: hhs-breach-archive__2026-08-28.csv, export row 2813.
Corrections: if you represent a listed entity and the portal row has been amended, email [email protected] with the portal entry and we will re-pull the export.