Category: Health Data

More information has been disclosed about data security breaches affecting patients at North Shore University Hospital – Long Island Jewish Hospital. In April 2012, we learned that there had seemingly been two separate incidents, one involving a nurse from Brooklyn. But it seems that there was a lot more data theft and misuse going on…

Over on Healthcare IT News, Erin McCann has a bit more on the Samaritan Hospital breach I blogged about yesterday. I found some of her assertions interesting, and because I’m not sure I agree with her on her reading of HIPAA’s requirements, thought I would discuss them here.  Erin bases most of her commentary on…

UPDATE: In a statement sent to PHIprivacy.net on March 7,  a CDPH spokesperson writes: The original $250,000 penalty posting was an error discovered during the appeal. The correct calculation should have been $100/day times the number of days the facility failed to report the breach to CDPH, for a total penalty of $1100. So after…

What is the matter with some healthcare professionals? AFP reports on this case from Switzerland: A nurse in Switzerland who posted pictures of herself on Facebook sitting next to the corpse of an old woman is coming under fire from her profession, while prosecutors say they have launched an investigation. Saint Gallen’s regional prosecutors said…

Charges are still hanging over the head of a nurse accused of accessing over 5,800 patients’ information improperly over a period of years. I had previously noted the incident on this blog in 2011 when it was first made public. Now it seems like it will be June before we know whether she will be…

Most people I know want law enforcement to investigate some breaches and realize that, sometimes, that results delaying notification of those affected by a breach. But when does delay in notification become unreasonable or too long? Charles Sweeney reports that Samaritan Hospital in Troy, New York delayed notification from November 2011 – when it determined…