Kate Sweet writes: As health care providers continue to try to navigate the world of social media, the Rhode Island Board of Medical Licensure and Discipline (the “Board”) has issued policy guidelines (the “Guidelines”) to address the use of social media by the state’s physicians. The Policy Guidelines for the Appropriate Use of Social Media and Social Networking…
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Privacy watchdog investigates lost data from Toronto eye clinic
Alex Ballingall reports: Data storage sticks that contain personal and medical information on about 18,000 patients at Toronto Western Hospital’s Donald K. Johnson Eye Centre have gone missing, prompting an apology from the facility’s chief doctor and an investigation by the Ontario privacy watchdog. In an Oct. 17 letter to patients, ophthalmologist-in-chief Dr. Robert Devenyi said a…
Government ‘Mining’ Social Media for Information on Health Behavior
Elizabeth Harrington reports: The National Library of Medicine (NLM) is “mining” Facebook and Twitter to improve its social media footprint and to assess how Tweets can be used as “change-agents” for health behaviors. The NLM, a division of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), will have software installed on government computers that will…
Marketplace is working, says Sebelius, shortly before it crashes
Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of HHS, writes: To give Americans a better way to shop for health coverage, the federal government and states recently launched Health Insurance Marketplaces. Yesterday, we announced a clear path forward so that by the end of November, HealthCare.gov will work smoothly for the vast majority of consumers. But you probably haven’t heard…
CT health insurance database aims at cost transparency, despite privacy concerns
Arielle Levin Becker reports on privacy concerns about Connecticut’s development of an all-payers claim database: […] But Dr. Susan Israel, who said she had been following patients’ “privacy rights, or lack thereof,” said it was important to know who would be handling patient data that hadn’t been de-identified. “The public really needs to understand, first…
Desperately seeking justification to oppose Obamacare, some members of GOP demonstrate ignorance of HIPAA
Do they really think we’re stupid? Yesterday, I noted Rep. Joe Barton’s ridiculous questioning concerning whether Healthcare.gov violates HIPAA. Rep. Barton was not the only member of the GOP trying to use scare tactics about HIPAA and the site, however. Watch this exchange between CNN’s Carol Costello and Rep. Marsha Blackburn: Look, folks, there…