Andrew Burger writes: Is HIPAA proving effective in protecting the privacy of individuals’ personally identifiable health information? And are the resulting accounting and reporting systems proving manageable for the diversity of healthcare practitioners and administrators? Is it getting in the way of medical treatment and research or facilitating it? CRM Buyer spoke with a range…
Author: Dissent
Medical Secrets: An NBC 24 Exclusive
Aaron Brilbeck of NBC24 reports: Every four seconds, someone’s identity is stolen in America. Most of us go to great lengths to protest our identities, often shredding personal documents at home. And medical professionals are required to do the same. But we found out, many aren’t. NBC 24’s Aaron Brilbeck went dumpster diving in the…
Despite Privacy Gains, Kennedy's Health May Put Bill in Limbo
George Lauer, iHealthBeat Features Editor writes: Patient privacy advocates were busy last week, lobbying for and getting new privacy provisions in the stalled Wired for Health Care Quality Act, authored by Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and 15 other lawmakers. Expected to be introduced in new legislation as early as this month, the process may become…
California Insurance Commission: Personal Health Records: A Helpful Tool for A Healthier You
From their report [pdf]: Executive Summary: A Personal Health Record (PHR) is an evolving consumer tool for health record-keeping that is available to many members of California insurers or Managed Care Organizations (MCOs). Different from Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) which aggregate detailed clinical information, PHRs generally operate like a “calendar of medical events†and…
UF Doctor Quits After Putting Medical Records at Risk (update)
As a follow-up to a story we reported here: The private health information of 1900 local patients may have been compromised when a Jacksonville doctor gave his computer away. Dr. Francis D. Ong resigned from his position as a University of Florida assistant professor of plastic surgery at the College of Medicine-Jacksonville. UF privacy officials…
Canada: Calgary seniors' health information on stolen computers
Dozens of Calgary seniors are alarmed after learning their credit-card numbers, addresses and health-card numbers were stored on computers that were stolen recently. The Academy Hearing Centre in Brentwood Mall, which provides hearing tests and equipment, mostly to seniors, recently mailed out letters warning of the theft. “I got scared,” said one elderly female client…