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…
Category: Health Data
Complete Medical History Required For Manicure
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…
MS: Nursing Home Identity Theft
Indictments are returned against three Jackson women accused of stealing from a nursing home resident. Jamise James, 28, and Brittany Slaughter, 22, have been arrested. James is charged with conspiracy and fraudulent use of a social security number. Slaughter is charged with conspiracy. Ashley “Pig” Showers, 25,  has not been arrested yet. She fled in a Dodge…
Privacy concerns halt DNA database
Jason Felch of the Los Angeles Times reports: The National Institutes of Health quietly blocked public access to databases of patient DNA profiles after learning of a study that found the genetic information may not be as anonymous as previously believed, the Los Angeles Times has learned. NIH officials took the unusual step on Monday…
New oversight, stiffer penalties approved for snooping into patient records
Patrick McGreevy reports in the Los Angeles Times:
ID theft gets woman uplift, tuck, 9 months in jail
Gary Klien reports in the Marin Independent Journal: A Martinez woman who used another person’s identity to get a $20,000 breast lift and tummy tuck in Greenbrae was sentenced Wednesday to nine months in the Marin County Jail. She nearly got away with it, but a get-well bouquet and a navel itch were her undoing….