I’m not a fan of postcard appointment reminders for patients, as they expose the fact that the named individual is a patient of a particular doctor or practice – and sometimes, that, in and of itself, reveals more than I would want to see revealed. But under HIPAA, postcard reminders are not barred, and patients…
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UK: Alert auctioneer stops data of 7,000 patients in west Norfolk being sold to highest bidder after blunder at Queen Elizabeth Hospital
Thank goodness for alert auctioneers. Sophie Biddle reports: A health chief at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, in King’s Lynn, has announced a full internal investigation is underway after a piece of medical equipment containing personal data slipped through the first stage of their disposal process. The potential for the information to be leaked was however…
Patient monitors altered, drug dispensary popped in colossal hospital hack
Scary stuff. Darren Pauli reports: Security researchers have exploited notoriously porous hospital networks to gain access to, and tamper with, critical medical equipment in attacks they say could put lives in danger. In tests, hospital hackers from the Independent Security Evaluators research team popped patient monitors, making them display false readings which could result in…
Bay Area Chiropractic Center patient info allegedly stolen by doctor to open his own practice
It seems that Bay Area Chiropractic Center LLC had a breach in 2015 that they first reported to Oregon this month. The breach occurred between June 1, 2015 and August 31, 2015, and was discovered on December 10, 2015. Affected patients were notified on December 22, 2015. Why they are first reporting this to Oregon is unclear to this…
Los Angeles physical therapy provider settles HHS charges that it impermissibly disclosed patient information
An announcement by HHS on Feb. 16 seems to have flown under most media radar. It seems that Complete P.T. used patient images and testimonials on their web site without patient consent, generating a complaint to HHS that HHS investigated and confirmed. Complete P.T. has admitted liability, agreed to pay $25,000, and has agreed to a…
Healthcare data breaches lead more patients to withhold information from doctors
Stephen Cobb writes: As 2015 slides into the cybersecurity history books as “the year of the healthcare breach” I decided to examine one aspect of medical data privacy that is sometimes overlooked: the impact of breaches on patient-doctor information exchange. Specifically, I’m concerned that high profile healthcare-related IT security breaches may lead more people to…