Today’s update of HHS’s breach tool includes six breach reports, some of which we knew about already. Two of the incidents had been covered on my companion blog but not reported here as it was not clear that PHI were involved, but it seems that PHI must have been involved: The State of South Carolina Budget…
Category: Health Data
Baylor Health Care System notifies over 8,000 patients after portable ultrasound machine with PHI is stolen
Baylor Heart and Vascular Center in Texas reports that over 8,000 patients might have been affected by the theft of a portable ultrasound diagnostic machine. The device was stolen from a patient’s room in Baylor’s Jack and Jane Hamilton Heart and Vascular Hospital (BHVH) in Dallas on the evening of December 2 or the early…
Patient privacy should be respected abroad and online
A news release from the University of Florida serves as a timely reminder: Taking an unauthorized photo of a patient and posting it on Facebook is a giant no-no for health-care providers, who follow strict federal guidelines protecting patient privacy. But what if the patient is a little girl in Ecuador receiving a vaccine from…
Health record privacy violation haunts VA worker, she says
Brian Bowling reports: The Pittsburgh Veterans Affairs Healthcare System is trying to use a technical violation of its leave policy to punish an employee who reported a violation of the federal health record privacy law, a union official said. “That’s about it in a nutshell,” said Keith Watson, president of American Federation of Government Employees…
HHC Press release on backup tapes stolen from GRM van
The following statement was issued by Health and Hospital Corporation yesterday concerning a breach reported on this blog earlier today: The New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC) this week began to notify nearly 1.7 million patients and hospital staff, as well as the employees of vendors, contractors, and others – who were all…
Computer stolen from St. Francis-Broken Arrow had data on 84,000 patients
The Broken Arrow Ledger in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma reports: A computer containing patient information and some employee records was stolen from Saint Francis Broken Arrow several weeks ago. The hospital discovered a burglary and theft of a computer from a secured information systems room. Police were immediately notified and the case is currently under investigation….