Over on PHIprivacy.net, I had often questioned the fact that so many healthcare facilities retain patients’ medical records forever. And while those stored records pose a risk in terms of breaches, I had also noted that there might be times when having a patient’s very old records could actually be helpful. Here’s another example. KPLR reports:…
Search Results for: HCA
Judge Disagrees With Employee Firing Over HIPAA Violation
Elizabeth Snell reports: A Montana judge recently ruled that a healthcare employee’s HIPAA violation did not preclude her from protection under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The employee had accessed personal information on coworkers for her union-organizing campaign, according to the judge’s decision. Her employer then terminated her, citing a HIPAA violation. However, the judge…
OIG identifies big HHS security shortfalls
Erin McCann reports: The IT infrastructure office at the Department of Health and Human Services has some serious security problems. This after the office received a less than satisfactory security report card from the Office of Inspector General this week. After reviewing the security controls at HHS’ Office of Information Technology Infrastructure and Operations, or…
FTC passes on presenting a rebuttal witness in FTC v. LabMD (Updated and Corrected)
The FTC will not be presenting any witness to rebut sensational testimony given by former Tiversa employee Richard (“Rick”) Wallace last week in the FTC’s data security enforcement case against LabMD. Robert Boback, CEO of Tiversa, who was accused of essentially being a fraudster and/or extortionist by his former employee, had this to say when…
UK: Fax errors lead to data breach at Northumbria NHS Trust
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has issued Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust with an undertaking committing the trust to improving the way it handles patients’ information. The action comes after the trust mistakenly sent five faxes containing information relating to the care of several patients to a member of the public. The faxes should have been sent…
Health Industry Can’t Protect Your Records from Hackers: Report
Herb Weisbaum reports: Your medical records are a prime target for hackers and identity thieves, but the healthcare industry is not prepared to deal with a surge in data breaches, security incidents and criminal attacks, according to a new report by the Ponemon Institute released on Thursday. “Organizations in the healthcare space are not playing…