Category: Health Data

Heath Urie reports: Paperwork containing the names, birth dates, Social Security numbers and other personal information of more than 200 patients at Boulder Community Hospital have been stolen, according to Boulder police. Police spokeswoman Sarah Huntley said the forms taken were copies of patient-intake forms of 207 people who visited the Occupational Health and Therapy…

As fears over privacy prompt genetic databases in the United States and Britain to close public access to some of their data, scientists working in the field are complaining that the moves are premature and will impede research . Read more in Nature

Doctors are warning patient data is at risk after a snapshot poll of colleagues showed lapses in security. Two unnamed doctors surveyed their colleagues at a top London hospital and found three quarters carried unsecured memory sticks with confidential data. Read more – BBC

It was a shocking discovery in an abandoned storage unit. Thousands of medical charts, all listed to Southwest Medical. Larry Coldmire bought the contents of the storage unit for just $25 dollars in an auction. He had hoped to find treasures that he could turn into a profit, but what was there instead is identity…

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 mandated the development of a unique patient identifi er (UPI) for “every individual, employer, health plan, and health care provider.” UPIs were intended to serve as central building blocks for new health information technologies and to enable physicians, hospitals, and other authorized users to share…

In a dime-a-dozen business like nail salons, you need to have a hook or a gimmick to be unique. At the The Bella Aqua Spa in Laurinburg, North Carolina, they seem to have settled on requiring a copious amount of personal and medical history from you before you get to have a manicure as their…