Category: Health Data

  On April 2, Sean Doolan of Hinman Straub, lawyers for UniCare, notified the New Hampshire Department of Justice that: Approximately one year ago, it was discovered that a computer server that contained protected health information (PHI) was not properly secured by a third party vendor for a period of time, which caused the PHI…

Chloe Albanesius writes in PC Magazine: Targeting health conditions like cancer and sexually transmitted diseases would be off-limits to online marketers under new rules proposed by a group of Internet advertisers. Interest groups, however, were skeptical that the rules will go far enough, or that the government will take any meaningful steps to protect consumers…

The Times-Standard reports: Officials at St. Joseph Health System – Humboldt County reported Friday that a safe was stolen from one of the system’s facilities on Wednesday night. The safe contained personal checks and police are conducting a thorough investigation, a press release stated. Full story – Times-Standard

Charles Ornstein of the Los Angeles Times reports: When penalties were handed out for snooping in UCLA’s medical records, it paid to have an M.D. after your name. As a group, doctors at UCLA hospitals who wrongly peeked at the records of pop star Britney Spears got off lighter than other staffers, according to reports…

The New York Times provides some additional details on the breach involving NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center: The theft – which occurred over the past several years and included patients’ names, phone numbers and Social Security numbers – was discovered during a federal investigation, and the hospital was notified in January, the spokeswoman, Myrna Manners, said. An…

Mary Mosquera reports on FCW: The director of the National Institutes of Health has notified employees to expect random computer audits as the agency works to ensure full compliance with its security policies. NIH discovered that a stolen laptop PC belonging to NIH contained medical data and Social Security numbers of 1,200 patients involved in…