I thought the Veterans Administration system had taken steps to ensure that people could not forward/send emails with protected health information outside the system. Yet an incident in Texas that was included in the VA’s July report to Congress shows that this still occurs. The VA’s summary of the incident for July 23rd notes: As…
Category: Health Data
NSUH Identify Theft Lawsuit Narrowed to One Negligence Claim
Joel Stashenko reports: A Queens judge has severely limited the basis on which former patients at the North Shore University Hospital may sue over a security breach they blame for the thefts of their identities. Supreme Court Justice Robert McDonald dismissed 10 of their 11 claims, finding in large part that the alleged violations of federal or…
VA: Carilion Clinic employees disciplined for violating patient privacy in high-profile case
Luanne Rife reports: Carilion Clinic has fired or disciplined more than a dozen employees after they peered into a patient’s medical records without any clinical reason for doing so. Carilion declined to say how many of the 14 employees — 11 in the New River Valley and three in Roanoke — were fired, but said…
Visionworks Settles Maryland AG Charges Over Data Breaches
Attorney General Brian E. Frosh today announced that the Office of the Attorney General Consumer Protection Division entered into a settlement agreement with Visionworks, LLC, resolving an investigation into two data breaches the company experienced in 2014 that affected more than 72,000 Marylanders. Visionworks failed to properly secure consumers’ personal information while upgrading to fully encrypted…
Colorado notifies Medicaid patients of HIPAA breach
Denver, CO – The Department of Health Care Policy and Financing (the Department) announced today that protected health information was unintentionally disclosed in a recent mailing. Letters were mailed between May 25 and July 5, 2015 and contained protected health information (PHI) of individuals from 1,622 households. The problem was identified on July 1st when…
Blue Cross Blue Shield in Maryland sued over alleged security breach
Shaun Zinck reports: Blue Cross Blue Shield is being sued over an alleged breach of security that led to the release of patients’ personal information. Pamela Chambliss and Scott Adamson filed the lawsuit on Aug. 6 in U.S. District Court in Maryland against CareFirst Inc., doing business as Blue Cross and Blue Shield. The breach…