Category: Health Data

Joe Eaton reports: As the federal government prepares to spend up to $27 billion in stimulus funds to promote electronic medical records, a health technology industry survey suggests that a number of hospitals, health clinics, and insurance firms are violating federal security rules on patient data and putting sensitive health information at risk. The November…

Tim McGlone reports: Calling the crime “very disturbing,” a federal judge sentenced a nurse to two years in prison after she admitted stealing the identities of several patients, some suffering from dementia, and then going on a $14,000 shopping spree. Erica S. Fowler, 27, of Virginia Beach, said nothing before U.S. District Judge Robert G….

Brendon Tavelli writes: On January 5, 2010, Judge William Hibbler of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois became the latest federal district judge to share his views about whether an increased risk of future harm based on the inadvertent exposure of personal information is a legally cognizable harm. In Rowe v….

As reported here Wednesday, Connecticut’s Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has filed suit against Health Net for failing to secure member information and for failure to notify members of a security breach in a timely fashion. United Health Group and Oxford Health Plans are also named as defendants in the suit because although they were not…

Reprinted from REPORT ON PATIENT PRIVACY, the industry’s most practical source of news on HIPAA patient privacy provisions. By Liana Heitin, Editor With many legislators, law enforcement officials, and privacy experts now calling it the fastest-growing type of crime, medical identity theft has emerged as a forefront issue for health care providers. And while ID…