In September, I posted an excerpt from a thought-provoking commentary by attorney Benjamin Wright. In discussing a fine levied against Lucile Salter Packard Hospital for late notification under California’s breach notification law, he had written, in part: The California Legislature made clear it wants notices to be issued quickly. However, the law should not be…
Category: Health Data
Pointer: Healthcare Breach Highlights Need For More Security Insight
Over on InformationWeek, George V. Hlme comments on the Triple-S Managment breach reported previously on this site.u
University of Tennessee Medical Center alerts patients about possible security incident
Close to 8,000 patients at UT Medical Center will recieve letters notifying them of a privacy incident concerning their patient information. An e-mail sent to the staff of the hospital on Friday explains that an administrative report was thrown in the trash instead of shredded like the hospital policy. While there was no information on…
Ca: Confidential medical records scattered in parking lot after car break-in
Rosie Gillingham reports: A couple of city parking enforcement officers on routine patrol in downtown St. John’s Friday morning found something more interesting than illegally parked cars. Randy Bragg and Kerwin Thomas discovered a huge mess — hundreds of papers scattered on a parking lot between Duckworth Street and Henry Street. But it was more…
When in doubt, report
Sta-Home Health & Hospice in Mississippi reported a potential security breach to HHS this week. Because I could find no media coverage or other information on the incident online, I contacted them for additional information. According to a spokesperson with whom I spoke today, on the evening of September 15, their offices were burglarized…
Should HHS follow the ICO's lead?
Yesterday, the U.K. Information Commissioner’s Office used its authority to issue fines for breaches of the Data Protection Act and issued its first fines ever. Neither breach involved a healthcare facility, despite the large number of breaches experienced by the NHS. But in what may be a warning shot, the ICO fined Hertfordshire County Council…