When a former patient at West Penn hospital went online to pay her bill, she discovered that she could access 85 other patients’ information, including their names, addresses, medical procedures and costs. When the hospital did not reply to two emails she sent alerting them to the problem, she went to a news station, and…
Category: Health Data
UK: Security probe after data breach at prison
Aasma Day reports: A security probe has been launched after a memory stick containing details of more than 6,000 prisoners was lost – with the password attached to it. The USB data stick was lost by a health worker at Preston prison. All 6,360 patients are, or have been, a prisoner at Her Majesty’s Prison…
Delaware Insurance Commissioner fines Blue Cross $150,000 for privacy violations
Keith L. Martin provides a follow-up to a breach reported at the beginning of December. Delaware’s insurance commissioner seems to have moved quickly on this case: BlueCross BlueShield of Delaware is hoping to return an early Christmas gift by state insurance commissioner Matt Denn: a fine of $150,000. Following a Dec. 24 hearing, Denn levied…
Delaware Insurance Commissioner fines Blue Cross $150,000 for privacy violations
Keith L. Martin reports: BlueCross BlueShield of Delaware is hoping to return an early Christmas gift by state insurance commissioner Matt Denn: a fine of $150,000. Following a Dec. 24 hearing, Denn levied the fine, the maximum permitted under state law, against the Wilmington, Del.-based insurer for mistakenly disclosing the private medical information of 3,800…
UK: Derriford Hospital’s data losses revealed
Confidential data from Derriford Hospital has been lost or stolen 17 times during the past two years, health chiefs have admitted. The theft of seven hospital laptops, patient blood results being sent to the wrong address and members of the public accessing sensitive files are among data problems recorded since January 2007. The hospital revealed…
UK: Medical notes sent to a stranger
Medical notes of three Dudley patients have been sent in error to a stranger in the town prompting concerns over a government agency’s data security. Rod Phillips, 59, was told he was ineligible for a disability pension and took the matter to tribunal. He said he was alarmed to find three people’s medical notes enclosed…