Category: Uncategorized

Update of December 12: See the update/follow-up here. Several months ago, I was contacted by a reader who asked me about the Alex Rodriguez case and whether there was a HIPAA breach.  I responded, via e-mail, that I didn’t know as the clinic was no longer in operation and I didn’t have any information on…

KRCG reports: MO HealthNet is in the process of notifying 1,357 individuals that some of their personal information was mailed to an incorrect address by one of its contractors, Infocrossing, Inc.  The disclosure was caused by a software programming error. No medical or financial information was released as a result of the inadvertent mailing.  The…

Interesting news from Japan: The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry plans to build an Internet-based network that would allow medical institutions nationwide to share patients’ medical treatment and drug prescription records–a move that is also likely to make it easier for patients to switch hospitals or leave one to recover at home, according to ministry…

Concerns over patient confidentiality have been raised by a Hakin landlord who found stacks of medical records stashed away in his attic. Peter Eaton said he was shocked to find five bin bags-full of mental health records hidden between the joists and under the fibreglass of his attic when he was renovating his property in…

Modern Healthcare covered a Congressional hearing this week to consider a federal data breach notification law.  Congress has been kicking the idea around for years, but one of the big stumbling blocks has been whether any such law would pre-empt state laws. I have long been on record supporting a federal law that pre-empts state…

Anyone can file a HIPAA privacy complaint with HHS, but I’m not confident this one will go anywhere if there is a signed business associate contract in place and the patient signed the privacy practices notice. I do think there needs to be an investigation on the Social Security number part of the complaint, though. See…