Ed Sperling writes: In late July Kern Medical Center’s information system came to a grinding halt. The hospital believed it had the standard security systems in place to protect its medical records. But for 16 long days that stretched into August, the hospital struggled to get its systems operational and isolate the problem from its…
Category: Health Data
Ie: Computer Containing Patient Data Stolen From Ennis Hospital
The Health Service Executive (HSE) has confirmed that a computer containing patient information has been stolen during a break-in at Ennis General Hospital. Gardaí, the HSE and the Data Protection Commissioner are investigating the theft which occurred at Clare’s county hospital last week. […] The HSE has launched it’s own investigation into the matter however…
Ca: Privacy breach must be treated as serious crime
An editorial in the Star Phoenix begins: The biggest threat to the security of Canadians’ personal information, especially their medical records, isn’t from computer hackers, it would seem, but from those within the bureaucracy who access and share these records for personal or political purposes. And until governments begin to treat these grievous abuses as…
AU: Doctors caught revealing secret patient information in Facebook posts
Helen Pow reports: Doctors have been disclosing sensitive medical information – and even mocking patients – on Facebook. The NSW Medical Board has cautioned one doctor for making “flippant and derogatory” comments, and warned others to “think twice” before disclosing patient details on social networking sites. Doctors are being warned the online conversations they think…
IN: St. Vincent Hospital reports stolen laptop
The Indy Channel reports: St. Vincent Hospital has notified 1,200 patients their personal information was on a laptop stolen from an employee’s home. The computer, containing Social Security numbers and personal health information, was taken during a burglary at a worker’s home on July 25, hospital officials said in a news release Friday night. Read…
NZ: Hundreds of patient records stolen
Kate Newton reports: Hundreds of patients’ medical records were stolen from Wellington Hospital by an employee and left languishing in a Porirua house for six years. Six boxes containing about 800 documents, mainly patients’ referrals and test results, were taken from the hospital by medical records clerk Taofiga “Junior” Sa. The patients whose files were…