Author: Dissent

Judith Graham reports: The problem of medical identity theft is on the rise, and it’s often an inside job, experts say. Between 250,000 and 500,000 people have their medical identities stolen each year, said Pam Dixon, who heads the World Privacy Forum, a non-profit group that helps victims of identity theft. Most of the perpetrators…

Jessica Pierce reports: While searching the home of a former Thompson Hospital nurse, police say they found hundreds of syringes, medicine vials and — possibly most disturbing — the private medical records of dozens of patients. Only about six of the records were for Thompson patients, while the others were for patients at other hospitals…

A Long Island nursing assistant has been arrested for allegedly stealing a patient’s credit card. Authorities say 44-year-old Brenda Skidmore, of Ronkonkoma, was caught using the card she stole from John T. Mather Memorial Hospital in Port Jefferson. More – ABC News

Gina Damron reports: A 12-count warrant has been issued against a Lathrup Village abortion clinic for improperly disposing of medical records, according to Southfield’s 46th District Court. The case against WomanCare, located on Southfield Road, stems from a March incident in which patient records were discovered in a Dumpster behind the facility, court and police…

Heather J. Chin reports: University of Pennsylvania Health System notified an undisclosed number of patients this week that an encrypted backup tape containing personal and credit information was lost in transit by an outside carrier. Affected persons are those who made payments to UPHS between Feb. 25 and April 25. More – The Bulletin

George Hulme writes: Despite the aim of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act to bolster the security and privacy of patient information, a majority of health-care providers believe more should — and can — be done. And a newly formed consortium of industry leaders plans to do something about it. A group of nine…