The FTC’s response to LabMD’s motion for sanctions (pdf) is now available online. FTC’s response begins: Respondent’s Motion, which exceeds the applicable word limit and regarding which counsel never met-and-conferred with Complaint Counsel, seeks relief that the Commission’s Rules do not authorize. If there were a legal basis for Respondent’s relief, its baseless claims regarding Complaint Counsel’s evidence ignores its own…
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Patient data de-identification: Keeping data private and useful
HealthITSecurity.com talked with Anna Spencer, partner in Sidley Austin’s Washington, D.C. about de-identification methods and provides her perspective on the delicate balance between patient privacy and useful data analysis.
Feds Investigate Idaho Medicaid Mental-Health Contractor For Privacy Violations
Emilie Ritter Saunders & Audrey Dutton report: A federal agency is investigating whether the company Idaho hired to manage part of its Medicaid program has violated patient-privacy laws. Optum Idaho, a unit of United Behavioral Health, took over insurance management for Idaho Medicaid’s mental-health and substance-abuse patients last fall. Local health-care providers who treat those…
Former Crozer-Chester Medical Center employee sentenced for identity theft
An update to a breach previously noted on this blog. Reynaldo Estrada was sentenced yesterday to 51 months in prison for stealing the identity information of numerous patients’ as part of a tax fraud scheme. The patient information theft occurred while Estrada was working at Crozer-Chester Medical Center’s Environmental Services Department in Upland and at Community Hospital in…
Federal medical-privacy law frustrates ID theft victims
Lorelei Laird has an interesting piece on medical identity theft, the dangers it poses to patients, and the frustrations they experience trying to correct their records because of HIPAA. Read it on ABA Journal.
UT: Alta Sports Center changes policies after carpool van is stolen
Good4Utah reports that a van with children’s personal information inside it was stolen on Saturday. The van belonged to the Alta Canyon Sports Center and is used for transporting kids from school to the recreation center for after school programs. On Monday, an email entitled “Urgent Message” was sent to parents notifying them of the…