Richard Winton reports: The theft of two laptop computers from a hospital administration office in Alhambra has compromised the health information of 729,000 patients, including their social security numbers, officials said Monday. The laptops were stolen Oct. 12 and contain data from patients treated at AHMC [AHMC Healthcare Inc.] hospitals: Garfield Medical Center, Monterey Park…
Category: Health Data
Privacy breach at Northern Inyo Hospital could result in criminal charges
From today’s Inyo Register in Bishop, California: Local law enforcement has opened an investigation into the theft of medical records from Northern Inyo Hospital in a case that has shaken community members and NIH itself. This past summer, hospital officials noticed that an employee in the records department had illegally obtained and was in possession…
Broward Health Medical Center notified by law enforcement that employee stole face sheets
Another insider breach in a Florida healthcare facility where the covered entity only learned of the breach via notification by law enforcement. Maria Mallory White reports: A former Broward Health Medical Center employee took documents containing the personal information of nearly 1,000 patients in a data breach uncovered by local and federal officials, the Fort Lauderdale health system announced…
GAO: Medicare ID Cards a Fraud Risk
Marianne Kolbasuk McGee reports: Citing concerns about identity theft risks, a new Government Accountability Office report urges the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to step up its efforts to remove Social Security numbers from Medicare beneficiaries’ identification cards. Read more on GovInfoSecurity.com.
VA says its patient records weren't compromised
Lois Henry reports: Responding to allegations that a doctor had taken confidential patient records out of the Bakersfield Veterans Administration clinic, the VA announced Thursday that three separate investigations over the course of seven months showed that no such patient information had been “released into the community or abused in any way.” “We are confident…
Four women indicted for stealing $750K in merchandise using patients’ information two of them allegedly stole while employed at medical practices
Associated Press reports: Four women have been indicted on charges of stealing more than $750,000 in merchandise using personal information obtained from patients in medical offices where two women worked. A federal grand jury in Baltimore returned the indictment on Thursday. The indictment alleges that 27-year-old Michelle Jernell Cole of Baltimore, and her sister, 30-year-old…