 Paul Lamapthakis writes in Perth Now: CONFIDENTIAL patient details are being left on old computers dumped in an open skip bin in a busy laneway at Royal Perth Hospital. Personal information, including patient names and addresses, dates of birth, medical conditions and patient numbers, was accessed with ease by The Sunday Times this week. Sources…
World Privacy Forum files comments on proposed rules regarding Patient Safety Organizations
The World Privacy Forum filed extensive comments today regarding privacy protections for patients whose health care information will be shared with patient safety safety organizations under newly proposed Department of Health and Human Services regulations. After a landmark Institute of Medicine report on the prevalence of medical errors and their harmful impact on patients (To…
U.S. Health Agency Forbids Sensitive Data On Apple MacBooks
Paul McDougall reports in InformationWeek: In the wake of a widely publicized security breach that left thousands of patient records exposed, the federal government’s National Institute of Health is forbidding all employees who use Apple’s MacBook laptops from handling sensitive data as of Friday, InformationWeek has learned. Employees at the health agency who store medical…
UK: Sick-leave papers left in street
The BBC reports: A confidential document containing the sickness records of staff at Plymouth City Council has been found on a street outside a pub. A passer-by handed the paperwork to a local newspaper. It contained general staff sickness data from six months ago and included the names of 15 staff with personnel numbers and…
Making the Case for Uploading Personal Medical Data (Opinion)
Theodore F. di Stefano writes in E-Commerce Times: Consolidated medical information online could not only save lives but also create efficiencies. Plus, privacy concerns could be swept aside by allowing patients to secure their data by giving short-term or long-term passwords to medical providers. […] First of all, you the patient would obviously have the…
Privacy concerns overblown? I think not… (commentary)
Over in her blog, Well, on the New York Times, Tara Parker-Pope recently blogged about the recent disclosure that an employee at UCLA had peeked at Farrah Fawcett’s records. In response to her blog, one commenter, “SavvyDoc,” commented that it was a “HUGE” invasion of privacy and the employee should have reprimanded (just “reprimanded,” SavvyDoc?),…