Category: Health Data

Kevin Sack reports: A medical privacy breach at Stanford University’s hospital in Palo Alto, Calif., led to the public posting of medical records for 20,000 emergency room patients, including names and diagnosis codes, on a commercial Web site for nearly a year, the hospital has confirmed. Since discovering the breach last month, the hospital has…

Oh my. According to HHS’s breach tool, Treatment Services Northwest in Oregon reported that a stolen computer contained PHI on 1,200 patients: Treatment Services Northwest,OR,,”1,200″,7/29/2011,Theft,Computer,, The center offers outpatient alcohol and drug treatment program, making this the kind of data breach that has the potential to be very problematic. I do not see any notice…

I didn’t find this in my routine searches, but a new entry on HHS’s breach tool alerted me to a breach at the Austin Center for Therapy and Assessment involving a stolen laptop. According to the center’s submission to HHS, the theft occurred on July 8.  I did not find any statement on the center’s…

Lindell Kay reports that a privacy of invasion lawsuit against a hospital was correctly dismissed because autopsy records are public information: The N.C. Appeals Court this week upheld a decision that Onslow Memorial Hospital employees did not violate the privacy rights of a murdered woman’s family by allegedly passing around her autopsy X-rays in 2009….

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services  Office for Civil Rights has submitted its mandated report to Congress on breach reports it has received. The report covers incidents reported between September 23, 2009 (the date the breach notification requirements became effective), and December 31, 2010. Here are some of the highlights of the report:…