Close to 8,000 patients at UT Medical Center will recieve letters notifying them of a privacy incident concerning their patient information. An e-mail sent to the staff of the hospital on Friday explains that an administrative report was thrown in the trash instead of shredded like the hospital policy. While there was no information on…
Category: Health Data
Ca: Confidential medical records scattered in parking lot after car break-in
Rosie Gillingham reports: A couple of city parking enforcement officers on routine patrol in downtown St. John’s Friday morning found something more interesting than illegally parked cars. Randy Bragg and Kerwin Thomas discovered a huge mess — hundreds of papers scattered on a parking lot between Duckworth Street and Henry Street. But it was more…
When in doubt, report
Sta-Home Health & Hospice in Mississippi reported a potential security breach to HHS this week. Because I could find no media coverage or other information on the incident online, I contacted them for additional information. According to a spokesperson with whom I spoke today, on the evening of September 15, their offices were burglarized…
Should HHS follow the ICO's lead?
Yesterday, the U.K. Information Commissioner’s Office used its authority to issue fines for breaches of the Data Protection Act and issued its first fines ever. Neither breach involved a healthcare facility, despite the large number of breaches experienced by the NHS. But in what may be a warning shot, the ICO fined Hertfordshire County Council…
(follow-up) Tulsa woman’s sentence nearly 4 years for credit-card fraud
David Harper reports the follow-up to a case previously reported here and here: A Tulsa woman was sentenced Tuesday to three years and nine months in prison for her role in a credit-card fraud case that involved personal identifying information being taken from St. Francis Hospital’s computer system. Teresa Browning, 36, also was ordered by…
Puerto Rico Dept of Health reports breach affecting 400,000; Triple-S Salud fined $100k
The Puerto Rico Department of Health has reported a security breach to HHS involving Triple-S Management and Corp. and Triple-S Salud, Inc. Triple-S Management is a managed care company while Triple-S Salud (Triple Health) is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association for Puerto Rico. The breach was reported to HHS…