Breach filing
ArchivedLifeBridge Health, Inc: 538,127 individuals, May 2018.
LifeBridge Health, Inc reported a breach of unsecured protected health information to the HHS Office for Civil Rights on 15 May 2018. The filing records the organisation as a healthcare provider in Maryland and lists 538,127 individuals affected, which makes it the 11th largest of the 170 Maryland filings on the register and the 8th largest of the 369 filings submitted nationally in 2018. Among the 9 Maryland filings made in 2018 it ranks 1st.
Individuals affected
538,127
As reported to HHS
Modelled cost (IBM 2025)
$86.1M
Upper bound, method shown
Rank in MD
11th
of 170 Maryland filings
Rank in 2018
8th
of 369 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
- 538,127
- Breach submission date
- 15 May 2018
- Submission year
- 2018
- Type of breach
- Hacking/IT Incident
- Location of breached information
- Network Server
- Business associate present
- No
- State
- Maryland (MD)
- Portal status
- listed in the HHS OCR breach portal archive
- Rank in Maryland by size
- 11th of 170
- Rank in 2018 nationally
- 8th of 369
- Maryland median filing
- 4,792 individuals
- Register id (derived)
- MD-20180515-lifebridge-health
Section F.2 / In context
Where this filing sits in Maryland and in 2018
OCR classifies the incident as a hacking or IT incident, with the breached information held in a network server. Hacking/IT Incident is the type recorded on 117 of the 170 Maryland filings (69%) and on 45% of all filings submitted in 2018. Network Server appears on 45% of Maryland filings.
No business associate is recorded on the filing; 38% of Maryland filings do involve one. At 538,127 individuals the breach is 112 times the Maryland median filing of 4,792 and 135 times the national median of 4,000 across all 7,884 filings. It is one of 801 filings of 100,000 or more individuals.
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.
Maryland's breach notification statute (Md. Code, Com. Law 14-3504) requires notice to affected residents within 45 days after discovery or notification of the breach. Its attorney general threshold: all breaches (AG notified before individual notices are sent). 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 538,127 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 $86.1M; the 2026 edition's $192 gives $103M. Both are modelled estimates with the method shown, not costs disclosed by LifeBridge Health, Inc. Because the filing is above the roughly 100,000-record range in which the per-record figure is reliable, the result is an upper bound, not an estimate: fixed costs are spread across far more records at this scale.
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.
During an investigation of a malware attack on its computer server that hosts its electronic medical records, in March of 2018, the covered entity (CE) discovered that an unauthorized person accessed the server on September 27, 2016. The breach affected approximately 538,127 individuals and the types of protected health information (PHI) involved included demographic and clinical information. The CE provided breach notification to HHS, affected individuals, and the media. Following the breach, the CE implemented its policies and procedures for contingency planning, data backup, disaster recovery, and emergency mode operations. OCR reviewed the CE's policies and procedures to ensure compliance with the Privacy and Security Rules. Following the breach, the CE implemented increased password controls. OCR obtained assurances that the CE implemented the corrective actions stated.
Section F.5 / Modelled cost
538,127 individuals through IBM's per-record figures
Modelled cost / method shown, not a disclosed cost
Upper boundIBM 2025 customer PII, $160 per record
$86.1M
538,127 x $160
IBM 2026 customer PII, $192 per record
$103M
538,127 x $192
Method: individuals affected, as reported by LifeBridge Health, Inc 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
Maryland statute and the HIPAA rule
State notification statute
Maryland: Md. Code, Com. Law 14-3504
- Notice to individuals
- Within 45 days after discovery or notification of the breach
- Attorney general threshold
- All breaches (AG notified before individual notices are sent) (Before individual notifications are sent)
- Private right of action
- No: No PROA under the breach statute; AG enforcement only
- Penalty
- Unfair or deceptive trade practice; up to $10,000 per violation, $25,000 per repeat violation
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
Maryland filings closest in size
Neighbours by size rank among Maryland filings in 2018, topped up from other years where 2018 has too few. Filings of 10,000 or more link to their own page.
| Covered entity | Type | Individuals | Submitted | Breach type | Location | BA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bon Secours Health System Incorporated | Healthcare Provider | 651,971 | 12 Aug 2016 | |||
| Kelly & Associates Insurance Group, Inc.Open | Business Associate | 553,332 | 9 Apr 2025 | |||
| Retina Group of Washington, PLLC | Healthcare Provider | 455,935 | 22 Dec 2023 | |||
| Capital Digestive Care, Inc. | Healthcare Provider | 17,639 | 23 Apr 2018 | |||
| Special Agents Mutual Benefit Association | Health Plan | 13,942 | 13 Mar 2018 |
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 4859.
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.