The situation described below really raises so many ethical, civil liberties, and privacy issues… Niniek Karmini and Irwan Firdaus of the Associated Press report: Lawmakers in Indonesia’s remote province of Papua have thrown their support behind a controversial bill requiring some HIV/AIDS patients to be implanted with microchips — part of extreme efforts to monitor…
Author: Dissent
Microsoft, Google Joust—and Concur—On Personal Health Records
Chad Berndtson reports: They may be cutthroat competitors. But tried as their representatives did to explain the fundamental differences between two personal health record (PHR) platforms,Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) and Google also may yet have some detente—at least when it comes to the like-minded goal of managing vast quantities of personal health information to benefit end…
Study favors use of national health ID numbers for patients
The report says unique identifiers would reduce errors and protect privacy, but privacy watchdogs are not convinced. Read the story in AMNews The report on which the article is based is: “Identity Crisis: An Examination of the Costs and Benefits of a Unique Patient Identifier for the U.S. Health Care System,” RAND Health, October, 2008.
CO: Identity theft traced back to hospital bill
The Children’s Hospital and a third-party billing contractor will warn as many as 1,000 families that their credit card information may have been compromised by a former employee. Aurora-based Revenue Enterprises recently terminated an employee that handled billing for The Children’s Hospital after it was discovered she used a family’s credit card to pay for…
NC agency sells cabinet containing personal info
The Department of Health and Human Services says a man who bought a filing cabinet from the state agency got something extra: dozens of client files. Agency spokesman Mark Van Sciver told the News & Observer of Raleigh the buyer found 57 files in the file cabinet purchased last month from the Caswell Developmental Center,…
UK: Patient notes – second slip-up
Alison Dayani reports: CONFIDENTIAL patient notes have been posted out to random strangers in a blunder by Birmingham mental health workers. An inquiry is under way into how the error happened – disclosing private details including medical history, National Health Service numbers, dates of birth and other information that could lead to identity fraud. Blunders…