There may have been a serious security breach at University Community Hospital in Tampa. A Lutz man who was discharged Thursday says he was given medical records and other personal information belonging to four other patients. Eddie Covington says he discovered the documents Saturday mixed in with his own discharge papers. He told us he…
Author: Dissent
Virginia Beach: Pretty good health privacy
Brian Robinson reports in Government Health IT: When sharing health information, government agencies must abide by rules established under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which does not allow such information to be transmitted unprotected via public networks. That seems like a simple rule, but schemes that provide secure sharing, such as public-key…
Senate bill won't prevent genetic discrimination, privacy activist says
Diana Manos writes in Healthcare IT News: A genetic nondiscrimination bill approved Thursday by a Senate panel won’t protect people from potentially losing their jobs or health insurance if the information gets out electronically, a privacy activist said. Deborah Peel, MD, founder of Patient Privacy Rights, said the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA), approved April…
Rash of Breaches Coincides With Health Privacy & Security Week
George Lauer of iHealthBeat reports: The timing couldn’t have been better — or worse, depending on your perspective. April 13 through 19 was Health Information Privacy and Security Week. Started five years ago by the American Health Information Management Association, the week’s intent is to schedule events and publicity to raise public and professional awareness…
UK: Medical records left on public transport
CONFIDENTIAL medical details of more than 1,000 patients have been exposed after a hospital employee left them on public transport. The Addenbrooke’s Hospital worker lost a spreadsheet stored on a USB memory stick along with a printed copy of 1,300 patient names and test records. The details include the dates and types of tests that…
California's largest purchaser of health insurance buys into statewide HIE
Nancy Ferris reports on Government Health IT: The California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) has directed its health plans, which cover more than 1.2 million people, to participate in the statewide health information exchange that is under development. The decision is a shot in the arm for the California Regional Health Information Organization (CalRHIO), which…