Thousands of patient records have been stolen while they were in storage at an unknown location in the Rochdale area. The data, belonging to 3,500 patients from Trinity Medical Centre on Winton Street in Littleborough, was taken during a burglary on 12 July. The stolen records contained personal details and full medical history of patients,…
Author: Dissent
Portland officer chooses privacy over truth in medical matter, faces firing
Maxine Bernstein of The Oregonian reports: The last thing Portland Officer Christina Nelson wanted to do was tell fellow officers that she had stomach-band surgery to lose weight and now required more surgery because of complications. She was afraid the news would spread like wildfire, and there would be no end to the ribbing from…
Neb. group files arguments in burial records case
The Columbus Telegram reports that the Adams County Historical Society is appealing a February court decision that let a former state psychiatric hospital keep sealed the identities of 957 people buried in its cemetery. This case is interesting because it pits HIPAA’s provisions that would protect information after death against freedom of information and public…
5,000 items missing from Indian Health
Enric Volante reports in the Arizona Daily Star: Mismanagement at the federal Indian Health Service has resulted in millions of dollars of equipment being lost or stolen across the nation, including in Arizona, congressional investigators reported. […] Gregory D. Kutz, managing director of forensic audits and special investigations for the GAO, the investigative arm of…
Hong Kong urges tougher controls on patients' data
Tougher controls to protect patients’ personal and medical data should be introduced at the city’s hospitals following a series of security blunders, the territory’s privacy watchdog said Tuesday. Roderick Woo, the privacy commissioner, made 37 recommendations to the Hospital Authority after inspecting the data security system at one of its hospitals. Full story – Monsters…
Privacy Advocates Worried, Wary About E-Rx Merger
George Lauer reports: It’s not going to change things overnight, but the merger of two of the biggest players in the electronic prescription market might accelerate the adoption of delivering health care digitally beyond the prescribing of drugs. Prescriptions will obviously be the first and most affected, but industry experts predict other portions of the…