Reprinted from REPORT ON PATIENT PRIVACY, the industry’s most practical source of news on HIPAA patient privacy provisions. To catch the notorious “BTK” killer, police collected the DNA of more than 1,300 men. In the end, it was the DNA of just one person — a woman, his daughter — that led to the…
Category: Health Data
HHS adds enforcement data to HIPAA privacy compliance and enforcement web site
In response to continuing interest in HHS enforcement of the HIPAA Privacy Rule, the Office for Civil Rights today made available to the public additional information about these activities. OCR has added a new data section on its Compliance and Enforcement Web Site. The public can now access enhanced information about several aspects of OCR’s…
UK: Potential security flaw in NPfIT Choose and Book, the Sun reports
Tony Collins writes in ComputerWeekly: The Sun has reported on a potential security breach with the “Choose and Book” system – part of the NHS’s National Programme for IT [NPfIT] – at a GP practice at Essex. The paper has an editorial piece about the potential breach under the headline “Data Dunces”. The Sun reports…
Hospital admits error in handling I.D. theft
Glenn Nyback of the Staten Island Advance reports: As tens of thousands of Staten Island University Hospital patients seethe over the decision by hospital administrators to wait four months before informing them that a computer containing their personal information was stolen, SIUH’s chief executive conceded officials could have handled the situation differently. The hospital only…
HIMSS survey on attitudes about PHR
Two of the more interesting findings from the May 2008 HIMSS Vantage Point report [pdf]: 49% of respondents have agreed that the biggest barrier that they face to the use of a personal health record is a concern that their information will be private and secure. 92% of respondents indicated that they, the patient, should…
Deschutes County notifies mental health clients of missing records
On Saturday, May 3, the Deschutes County Mental Health Department sent certified letters to 50 individuals who received services from the Department during 2005-06. The letters inform the clients that the location of their copied service documents, mailed through the U.S. Postal Service to the State, is unknown. The letter also offers assistance from Department…