Emory Healthcare alerted thousands of patients about a fraud scheme Monday. Hospital officials said someone stole personal patient information and used that information illegally. Emory officials said 77 people had their social security numbers stolen and used in a tax return scam. Officials said 2,400 other patients were given 12 month identity protection in case…
Category: Health Data
Privacy and Security in Health Care: A fresh look
A new issue brief by Deloitte reviews previous research and generates figures based on breaches reported to HHS. This Issue Brief from the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions (DCHS): Provides an update about current and emergent privacy and security challenges in health care; Examines notable hot spots where current policies, rules, and regulations are a…
Coming in "under the line:" when breaches affect less than 500 individuals
In a blog post, “500 Is a Magic Number: Health Information Breaches Impacting 499 or Fewer Patients Likely Go Uninvestigated By OCR,” Colin J. Zick of Foley Hoag writes: In the recently-released fiscal 2012 budget for HHS, a dirty little secret has been acknowledged: the Office of Civil Rights does not have the resources to…
Howard Brown experiences security breach
Chicago-based Howard Brown Health Center has posted a breach notice on its web site: Dear Howard Brown Donor and Friend, At Howard Brown Health Center, we take the security and privacy of our donors’ information very seriously. Yesterday, we identified a potential breach in our donor database. The donor database that was potentially breached includes personal…
HK: Kwai Chung Hospital reports loss of personal USB flash drive
The spokesperson for Kwai Chung Hospital (KCH) made the following announcement today (February 18) regarding a hospital staff member who lost a USB flash drive containing patients’ data: An occupational therapist at KCH discovered the loss of her personal USB flash drive after getting off a taxi on February 16. She immediately reported the loss…
(follow-up) FL: 5th suspect held in ID-theft ring targeting Holy Cross patients
Juan Ortega reports: Federal authorities have arrested the last of five suspects in an identity-theft ring that targeted patients at Holy Cross Hospital. Jimmy Lee Theodore, 27, of Pembroke Pines, was taken into custody Tuesday, charged with using patients’ stolen identities to obtain debit cards, authorities said. […] As a precaution, Holy Cross sent letters to…