Wendy Lee reports: Nashville-based managed care company HealthSpring Inc. said Wednesday a laptop computer containing personal information of about 450 state residents was stolen in March. The laptop, believed to contain names, dates of birth and social security numbers of about 9,000 individuals, was stolen from a HealthSpring employee’s locked car on March 30 in…
Category: Health Data
Aetna chief downplays Google Health's potential
Chris Kanaracus of IDG News Service reports: A top medical insurance executive on Wednesday downplayed the potential impact of services from Microsoft and Google that are aimed at helping users store and share their health records with providers. Google Health went into beta on Monday. It follows the launch of similar efforts, such as Microsoft’s…
Two plead guilty to stealing confidential information
Paul Shukovsky reports: A Belfair couple pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to stealing identities and using trickery to obtain confidential medical, tax and employment information for private investigators who paid them fees for the information. Emilio Torrella, 36, and Brandy Torella, 27, face a mandatory-minimum sentence of two years for aggravated identity theft, plus…
CT: ID information stolen from Saint Mary's Hospital
Marc Silvistrini of the Republican-American reports: A former Saint Mary’s Hospital employee has been charged by police in the theft of names and social security numbers of a half dozen patients, a hospital official and state police said Tuesday. State police told the hospital the thefts were confined to the Endoscopy Department and affect the…
Canada: Pending law will highlight health-record privacy: Wiseman
New rules governing health records will strengthen Newfoundland and Labrador patients’ privacy, the health minister said Tuesday. Ross Wiseman told a news conference that the new Protection of Personal Health Information Act, which is currently before the house of assembly, will more clearly spell out how a patient’s data can be used, and by whom….
UF warns patients of security breach
University of Florida officials will be notifying about 1,900 patients of a UF plastic surgeon that their private health information might have been breached after the information was managed and disposed of improperly. Dr. Francis D. Ong, a UF assistant professor of plastic surgery at the UF College of Medicine-Jacksonville, stored unsecured digital photographs of…