Category: Uncategorized

Kelly Jackson Higgins writes: If you are victimized by medical identity theft, chances are you will foot the bill for the fraudulent charges, a new survey finds. The Ponemon Institute’s Third Annual National Study on Medical Identity Theft, which was commissioned by Experian, found that 45 percent of medical ID theft victims end up paying…

This news report by Chris Rauber appeared on June 1, but I just became aware of it thanks to a reader: Giant Kaiser Permanente has found itself locked in a David-and-Goliath-scale struggle with a tiny Southern California record storage vendor over up to 1 million unencrypted Kaiser patient records the vendor claims remain on servers in his…

From The News Service of Florida: Saying it was based on anecdotal information and unfounded conjecture, a federal judge has barred enforcement of a 2011 state law that restricted doctors from asking patients about guns in their houses. U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke ruled Friday that lawmakers had failed to make the case that gun…

Richard Holober reports: California lawmakers are poised to weaken a patient privacy law despite its overwhelming voter support. AB 439 (Skinner) is before the Senate Judiciary Committee for a vote on Tuesday July 3. The bill would create loopholes in the Confidentiality of Medical Information Act (CMIA), placing patients at risk of repeated unauthorized release…

Stephanie McDonald reports: The federal government’s new eHealth system will be regulated against privacy breaches by the privacy commissioner and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC). The eHealth system, which went live July 1, will initially include basic information, with healthcare professionals adding to the system, such as medications prescribed and allergies. The…

I’ll be offline until Monday, traveling with some friends.  Blogging will resume Monday. Hope everyone enjoys the rest of their week!