Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals NHS Trust has pledged to improve data security after it informed the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) of a data breach involving the loss or theft of three unencrypted USB sticks containing sensitive patient information. Each of the devices contained the full treatment and full diagnosis history relating to a number…
Category: Health Data
CalOptima Reports Potential Loss of Patient Claims Information (updated)
From CalOptima’s web site: ORANGE, Calif. (October 23, 2009) – CalOptima has identified the potential loss of past medical claims information for approximately 68,000 of its members that was stored on electronic media devices. CalOptima’s claims scanning vendor sent the electronic media devices to CalOptima through the U.S. Postal service by certified mail. On Tuesday,…
Former Nursing Home Licensed Practical Nurse Pleads Guilty to Stealing Patients’ IDs
Erica Shanta Fowler, 27, of Virginia Beach, pled guilty Tuesday to aggravated identity theft for stealing identity information belonging to nursing home patients. Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, made the announcement after Fowler’s plea was accepted by United States District Judge Robert G. Doumar. She faces a mandatory…
But What About the Potential HIPAA Violation?
Sheel Pandya writes on CDT’s Policy Beta blog: Last month, we blogged about how Humana (and maybe some other health plans) sent warnings through letters to its Medicare beneficiaries that they could lose their health care benefits and services due to health care reform legislation pending in Congress. In response, the Centers for Medicare and…
CA: Enloe ambulance patients’ info stolen from storage bin
Greg Welter reports: Paperwork containing patient information is missing from a shredding bin at an Enloe Medical Center facility, apparently taken before it could be destroyed. Laura Hennum, public relations director for the medical center, said the missing paperwork documented ambulance runs made by Enloe approximately between Oct. 8 and 12. The theft was discovered…
Local NHS Trust pledges to improve data security
Antony Sumara, the Chief Executive of Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, has agreed to take action to comply with the Data Protection Act following a significant security breach. The breach occurred after a member of the Trust’s human resources team transferred personal information to a home computer. The information, known as a ‘Statement of Case’,…