Randeep Ramesh reports: Drug and insurance companies will from later this year be able to buy information on patients – including mental health conditions and diseases such as cancer, as well as smoking and drinking habits – once a single English database of medical data has been created. Harvested from GP and hospital records, medical…
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Ca: Misdirected faxes continue to compromise patient privacy
Press release from the Saskatchewan Information and Privacy Commissioner: Saskatchewan Information and Privacy Commissioner, Gary Dickson, has released his latest Investigation Report H-2014-001 which is a systemic investigation examining several privacy breaches involving misdirected faxes containing personal health information. In total, this investigation captures ten different trustees, including eight regional health authorities, 20 separate files…
Texas doctor charged with aggravated identity theft for misusing Medicare patients' names in fraud scheme
Miles Moffeit reports: A federal grand jury has handed down additional charges against Dr. Tariq Mahmood, whose rural hospital chain collapsed last year amid reports of reckless care and alleged fraud. The Dallas businessman now faces seven counts of aggravated identity theft, according to papers filed in U.S.district court in Tyler. Those come on top of eight…
AU: Cyber attacks: pharmacies, patient records targeted 'ransomware' attacks
Jake Sturmer and Alison McClymont report: Pharmacists have become the latest targets of sophisticated computer hacks known as ransomware attacks, which lock up PCs until victims pay up. Once the hackers plant the virus, the files on a computer become encrypted and unable to be accessed. Victims have a set amount of time to pay…
Update on IRS seizure of server with 60 million records of 10 million patients
Erin McCann has a follow-up to a concerning report I noted here in March that involves the IRS’s seizure of 60 million records containing PHI of 10 million people from an unnamed company. McCann reports that the company has since been identified as Three Rivers Provider Network. As previously reported, the incident related to an IRS…
Update: Former Virginia Beach General Hospital nurse's aide sentenced for using patients’ personal info to commit tax fraud
Doris Taylor reports: A former nurse aide for Sentara’s Virginia Beach General Hospital was sentenced to 81 months in prison for using patients’ personal information to submit fraudulent federal tax returns with the IRS. They say 36-year-old Emmanuel Effiong and another aide, Festus Ighalo are originally from Nigeria and are now U.S. citizens. Officials say the two aides…