This April 22nd notice seems to have flown under the media radar: The Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (OhioMHAS) today notified the public of a privacy incident involving protected health information (PHI). The issue involves a February 2016 postcard sent to consumers of mental health services inviting participation in a satisfaction survey….
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Patient privacy: Can past lessons prevent future failures?
Niam Yaraghi writes: I talked with key personnel at twenty-two different hospitals, insurers, and business associates that had experienced a breach incident over the last two years. A new report synthesizes the lessons learned from those incidents and highlights the unique vulnerabilities of the health care system to privacy breaches. Read more on Brookings Institute.
Stolen billing vendor’s laptop held patient info from 8 medical facilities
EqualizeRCM Services is a vendor providing billing and collection services to healthcare providers. In compliance with HIPAA, it has Business Associate contracts with its clients, who provide it with the information needed to fulfill its functions. The firm has headquarters in Austin, Texas, and offices in Houston and Washington, D.C. On February 29, EqualizeRCM learned that a…
Florida Hospital Medical Group notifies patients after transcription service error
Florida Hospital Medical Group recently notifed HHS of a breach affecting 1,906 patients. Although the breach reportedly involved a transcription service, the entry on HHS’s public breach tool does not indicate any business associate was involved. In digging into this report, I found that the Orlando Sentinel had reported the incident on April 8: If you’re…
Vibrant Body Wellness notifies patients after burglar steals hardware with PHI
Seen on Vibrant Body Wellness: We were robbed! Literally. Yes, it’s sad but true — our office at Vibrant Body Wellness was broken into during the weekend of March 5th to March 8th. Things were stolen and no one was physically injured. We are grateful for that, and have been sorting through the violation and…
MI: Former doctor’s office clerk sentenced for stealing patients’ identities
WZZM reports: A former doctor’s office billing clerk will spend time in prison for writing checks and applying for credit cards using information stolen from patients. Christine Ann Kroeze will spend between 4.5 and 14 years in prison on six felony convictions. Read more on WZZM. The accompanying video focuses on a sign that…