At a time when concerns about the privacy and security of electronic health records are a hot topic and the issue of private vs. public health insurance is making the front pages, a lawsuit filed by a former Kaiser employee alleges that Kaiser knowingly and repeatedly violated HIPAA, exposed millions of members to identity theft,…
Nationalized health care, stimulus and privacy rights
John D. Penn, a partner in corporate law firm Haynes & Boone, has a commentary in the Fort Worth Business Press. He argues that: Creating one set of national health records for everyone (enacted in the 2009 economic stimulus law) and requiring all healthcare providers to be substantial users is an irreversible step toward nationalized…
Your Prescription Data has been Sold for Profit
Annual Medical Report comments on the New York Times article about the sale of prescription data: However, the New York Times article failed to mention prescription data providers Ingenix, owned by UnitedHealth Group Inc., and Milliman, Inc. For example, one of Milliman, Inc.’s information exchange products, IntelliScript, is: “a data aggregation service that provides individual…
Google, Microsoft execs criticize Obama's EHR plan
Top executives at Google and Microsoft sharply questioned the structure of the Obama administration’s $20 billion health information technology plan at a meeting of a presidential technology council on Thursday. […] [David Blumenthal, national coordinator for health information technology] emphasized the importance of ensuring patient privacy in a national health system and said unless there…
Skyward breach affects St. Lucie County SD workers
[St. Lucie County School District] employees will receive a letter this week from a school district computer contractor advising them that an error during recent work may have sent their personal information to other school districts. The employee information may include Social Security numbers, home phone numbers and home addresses, said Janice Karst, schools communications…
Tories to let patients amend medical records online
Patients could amend their own medical records and leave comments on symptoms, medication and treatment, under radical plans unveiled by the Conservatives today. In a move which could be dubbed “Wiki-health”, a Tory government under David Cameron will allow people to access online health records, which are currently restricted. Patients would be prevented from changing…