A staff member at Lake Burien Transitional Care Facility, a Washington state psychiatric facility for youth overseen by the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services, used a personal ChatGPT account to draft medical notes about patients in July, potentially exposing sensitive health information for more than a dozen people, according to The Seattle Times. The facility contacted families of 12 patients, while four Western State Hospital patients may also have been affected, a DSHS spokesperson said. The exposed information may have included patients' names, diagnosis specifics and medications, though officials said Social Security numbers were not exposed and no evidence was found that the information was further disclosed or used for identity theft. A DSHS spokesperson said the employee was instructed to delete all prompts before deleting the personal ChatGPT account altogether, and the employee did so. DSHS maintains Administrative Policy No. 15.28, titled “Use of Artificial Intelligence” and dated April 15, 2025, which requires agency approval before staff use AI tools. A healthcare-compliant version of ChatGPT aligns with HIPAA privacy laws, while the consumer-oriented version used by the employee does not. OpenAI's consumer data policy states the company may use prompts to improve its models depending on settings, and its Help Center advises: “Please do not enter sensitive information that you would not want reviewed or used.”