In British Columbia, Canada, new legislation has been passed which according to Health Minister George Abbott, prohibits disclosure of information from electronic databases for market research and allows individuals access to their own health records and medical information. Abbott says that British Columbia is the first province in Canada to create such a legal framework…
Author: Dissent
NZ: Health workers "blasé" about HIV disclosure
GayNZ.com reports: “Blasé” health care workers are too often divulging the confidential HIV status of their patients and broader data sharing within the medical fraternity is also leading to unwanted HIV status disclosures, according to HIV positive people. As a result, the Privacy Commissioner is urging health care workers to reflect on the way they…
Personal health records latest concern for CIOs
Zach Church writes in Midmarket CIO News: As a growing number of patients take an increasingly proactive role in the management of their own health, sales of software programs that give users access to their personal health records are set to explode, experts say. But the impending proliferation means new responsibilities for CIOs as hospitals…
Stolen computers contained patient data from EHS patients
Elliott Health Systems, Inc. (EHS) in New Hampshire has notified the New Hampshire Department of Justice that on February 22, 2008, 10 computers were stolen from the headquarters of a business associate, Advanced Medical Partners, Inc. (AMPI). By letter dated March 3, 2007 (sic), EHS reported that the computers may have contained ePHI on 6…
Lawyers: Doctor's info leak justified / Defense says psychiatrist wanted to show teenaged suspect did not intend to kill
An interesting news story out of Japan from the Yomiuri Shimbun: Lawyers for a psychiatrist indicted on charges of leaking confidential information about a teenage murder suspect to a freelance journalist insisted the doctor was innocent in court Monday, stating he was trying to prove the boy had not intended to kill. During the…
My Turn: Are we ready for e-medical records?
The following opinion piece, which was written by Allen Gilbert, the Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Vermont, appeared in the Burlington Free Press today: Allen Gilbert Vermont is about to take a huge, expensive leap into the electronic medical records field. Every Vermonter who’s ever seen a doctor or been to…