The Puerto Rico Department of Health has reported a security breach to HHS involving Triple-S Management and Corp. and Triple-S Salud, Inc. Triple-S Management is a managed care company while Triple-S Salud (Triple Health) is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association for Puerto Rico. The breach was reported to HHS…
(Update) Henry Ford Hospital breach affected 3,700
As an update to previous coverage on the Henry Ford Health System breach involving a stolen laptop containing unencrypted PHI: 1. The breach affected 3,700 patients according to the hospital’s notification to HHS under the breach notification requirement of HITECH. 2. The hospital posted a notice to its web site on Nov. 19: Henry Ford…
Federal Appeals Court Overturns Vermont Law that Restricted Commercial Use of Physician Information
IMS Health issued the following press release: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit today ruled that a Vermont law restricting the commercial use of information relating to physician prescribing patterns is unconstitutional. Judge John G. Koeltl wrote the majority opinion overturning an April 2009 U.S. District Court decision, concluding the Vermont law…
(update) Fraud reports climb after Broadway Grill hack
Connie Thompson of KCBY reports that the POS hack that led to card fraud in the Capitol Hill area was a one-day intrusion on October 22nd that involved only one business (Broadway Grill). The number of reports of fraud continues to climb and may affect almost 1,000 individuals; card info was reportedly sold to others….
Consumer Groups Call on FTC to Investigate Interactive Marketing of Pharmaceutical and Health Products and Services to Consumers and Health Professionals
In a complaint filed today with the Federal Trade Commission, the Center for Digital Democracy, U.S. PIRG, Consumer Watchdog, and the World Privacy Forum called on the commission to investigate unfair and deceptive advertising practices that consumers face as they seek health information and services online. Consumers now confront a sophisticated and largely stealth interactive…
Privacy Advocates Win Database Delay
Oops — I missed this story last week. Howard Anderson reports: The launch of a national database of certain healthcare claims data, which was slated for Monday, has been delayed in the wake of strong concerns voiced by privacy advocates. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management’s claims database proposal, announced Oct. 5, lacks sufficient privacy policy details and…