The Swedish government has launched its e-health initiative, as described on the e-Health Europe site. The national strategy is described in this 36-page report [pdf]. With respect to security, the report says: Increased use of e-Health must be combined with effective security measures designed to ensure that highly sensitive confidential information relating to individual patients…
Author: Dissent
Twila Brase on DNA Warehouse and Ownership
I’ve previously linked to an OpEd about a proposed law in Minnesota that would allow collection of every newborn’s DNA despite Minnesota’s genetic privacy law and that would give the government ownership and genetic research rights. Today I saw the following on YouTube. It’s a video of Twila Brase, president of Citizens’ Council on Health…
AU: Royal Perth Hospital dump computers, patient details
 Paul Lamapthakis writes in Perth Now: CONFIDENTIAL patient details are being left on old computers dumped in an open skip bin in a busy laneway at Royal Perth Hospital. Personal information, including patient names and addresses, dates of birth, medical conditions and patient numbers, was accessed with ease by The Sunday Times this week. Sources…
World Privacy Forum files comments on proposed rules regarding Patient Safety Organizations
The World Privacy Forum filed extensive comments today regarding privacy protections for patients whose health care information will be shared with patient safety safety organizations under newly proposed Department of Health and Human Services regulations. After a landmark Institute of Medicine report on the prevalence of medical errors and their harmful impact on patients (To…
U.S. Health Agency Forbids Sensitive Data On Apple MacBooks
Paul McDougall reports in InformationWeek: In the wake of a widely publicized security breach that left thousands of patient records exposed, the federal government’s National Institute of Health is forbidding all employees who use Apple’s MacBook laptops from handling sensitive data as of Friday, InformationWeek has learned. Employees at the health agency who store medical…
UK: Sick-leave papers left in street
The BBC reports: A confidential document containing the sickness records of staff at Plymouth City Council has been found on a street outside a pub. A passer-by handed the paperwork to a local newspaper. It contained general staff sickness data from six months ago and included the names of 15 staff with personnel numbers and…