I expected that it would only be a matter of time before details of golfer Tiger Woods’ care at Health Central Hospital would begin to leak, and today’s news providing the alias under which he was admitted plus additional confidential patient details will necessarily require an investigation. Celebrity website TMZ attributes some of the details…
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Privacy concerns raised over "secondary use" of health records
Tomorrow’s issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal has an article by Ann Silversides that begins: It took no time at all for Dr. Khaled El Emam’s colleague to identify an infant who had been a patient at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) in Ottawa. But there was a major problem: The colleague…
Military Rules Said to Hinder Therapy
James Dao and Dan Frosch of the New York Times report: Pfc. Jeffery Meier, who struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder and drug addiction after two deployments to Iraq, got an appointment in August to see a psychiatrist at Fort Carson, Colo. But when he arrived for his first session, he was asked to sign a…
HIPAA's role in liability cases tested in Mich.
Amy Lynn Sorrel reports: Michigan’s Supreme Court is set to decide whether the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act preempts a state law allowing defendants in medical liability lawsuits to informally interview plaintiffs’ other treating physicians — a move that doctors say could put them at a disadvantage in defending such cases. At issue is…
Medical breaches rarely make national headlines
Over on The Daily Censored, Irene North writes: Medical breaches often get a mention in a local or state paper, but rarely do they make national headlines. Over the past two months, there have been numerous breaches, barely getting a mention, but, when taken as a whole, reveal just how at risk our personal information…
Can Electronic Medical Records Be Secured?
Mitch Wagner reports: While electronic medical records promise massive opportunities for patient health benefits and reductions in administrative costs, the privacy and security risks are equally huge. The Obama administration has set an ambitious goal–to get electronic medical records on file for every American by 2014. The administration is offering powerful incentives: $20 billion in…