I recently noted a privacy breach at Northern Inyo Hospital in California. It was one of those “small breaches” (i.e., less than 500 affected) that don’t get reported on HHS’s public-facing breach tool, but it really created distress for its victim. In discussing the breach, I noted my surprise at a statement the patient made…
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For three years, employee data sat on a former employee's device, unbeknownst to all
On October 24, Rotech Healthcare, Inc. reported a data security breach to the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office that involved some health information. According to their letter to the state, on August 30, they learned that a former employee took some files with her when she left the firm on November 26, 2010. Those files contained…
Unencrypted laptops still a major cause of breach reports to HHS
Here’s a run-down of the 29 breaches HHS added to its breach tool today, organized by those we already knew about vs. ones that we didn’t know about. With today’s additions, the breach counter on HHS for breaches affecting over 500 patients stands at 711 since September 23, 2009 when HITECH reporting requirements went into…
So the police have a warrant…. does that compel the physician to help execute it?
Decades ago, while teaching emergency medical techniques to police and fire department personnel, a volunteer ambulance worker asked us what he should have done when a police officer on the scene ordered him to do something that he felt was wrong from an emergency medical standpoint. “He threatened to arrest me if I didn’t comply,…
DaVita notifies dialysis patients of breach
Adam Greenberg reports that DaVita is notifying approximately 11,500 dialysis patients of a breach that occurred when a laptop with unencrypted PHI was stolen from an employee’s car. The notice on DaVita’s site, dated Nov. 5 and linked from its home page, reads: DaVita®, a division of DaVita HealthCare Partners Inc., reported today that on…
Obamacare: no criminal background check required to be a Navigator?
As I’ve commented previously, there are valid security concerns to be raised about the healthcare.gov site and system. Here’s one of them, in my opinion: Yesterday, during a congressional hearing, Kathleen Sebelius acknowledged that there are no criminal background checks required by the Affordable Care Act for those who serve as Navigators. States may have…