L. M. Sixel writes in the Houston Chronicle: Medical privacy has been protected for years by the most unlikely guardians: insurance companies. Now, the Texas Legislature has become the first in the nation to force insurance companies to pass along sensitive employee health records to their companies, a practice permitted under federal law. Starting Jan….
Texas computer theft prompts Elliot warning
Shawne K. Wickham writes in the Union Leader: Elliot Health System has notified six patients that their private information may have been compromised after a computer theft last month at one of its vendors. John Shea of New Boston got a letter yesterday from Elliot’s director of compliance, informing him of the theft and possible…
UK: Put young children on DNA list, urge police
Mark Townsend and Anushka Asthana write in The Observer: Primary school children should be eligible for the DNA database if they exhibit behaviour indicating they may become criminals in later life, according to Britain’s most senior police forensics expert. Gary Pugh, director of forensic sciences at Scotland Yard and the new DNA spokesman for the…
Illinois clinics to install electronic patient kiosks
Richard Pizzi writes on Healthcare IT News: The Carle Clinic Association, one of the largest private physician groups in the United States, plans to implement an electronic kiosk-based patient check-in program at its 11 branches in Central Illinois. Carle Clinics will use the My Patient Passport ExpressT kiosk from Mequon, Wis. Company officials say the…
IOM Project Survey Findings on Health Research and Privacy
From the 15th National HIPAA Summit, Dr. Alan Westin‘s talk is now online for free viewing.
Health Plans Are Developing Powerful New Web-Based Personal Health Records to Allow Consumers to Manage Their Health
Bruce Goldfarb of AIS Health writes: Individualized personal health records (PHRs) — long a holy grail of medical informatics — are poised to serve a prominent role in consumer-directed health (CDH.) Several large health plans have begun providing Web-based PHRs that give consumers powerful tools to manage their health. Coming soon, consumers will be able…