Emory Healthcare alerted thousands of patients about a fraud scheme Monday. Hospital officials said someone stole personal patient information and used that information illegally. Emory officials said 77 people had their social security numbers stolen and used in a tax return scam. Officials said 2,400 other patients were given 12 month identity protection in case…
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Healthcare Social Media Sites Neglect Privacy Protections
Nicole Lewis reports: As the Internet in general and social networking in particular are used as a point of reference for gathering and sharing health information, a study that examined 10 diabetes-focused social networking sites has found that the quality of clinical information, as well as privacy policies, significantly varied across these sites. Read more…
FL: Healthcare Insurance Applications Found in Trash
Last month, I posted a breach story by Robert Siciliano about a then-unnamed insurance agency that had reportedly discarded Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance applications in a dumpster. The files were found by investigator William “Cobra” Staubs, who was engaged in “research.” Simon Barrett followed up on the incident and posted some pictures that suggest that…
UK: Dorset HealthCare Trust send confidential health faxes by mistake
Joanna Codd reports: Highly confidential faxes about people with mental health problems have been mistakenly sent to a Bournemouth business over a period of 18 months. Despite the business alerting officials to the problem, the documents have continued to arrive at the offices of Cole Valuations in Exeter Road at the rate of two or…
Experts Forecast Top Seven Trends in Healthcare Information Privacy for 2011
In today’s installment, we gaze into the crystal ball to see what 2011 might have in store for us: What are the top security and privacy issues facing the healthcare industry in 2011? A panel of healthcare experts representing privacy, trends, technology, regulatory, data breach, and governance were asked to weigh in with their forecasts…
US Senate Votes to Exempt Healthcare Providers from ‘Red Flags Rule’
Rachel M. Zahorsky reports: The American Bar Association came one step closer today to halting an attempt by the Federal Trade Commission to regulate the practice of law when the U.S. Senate unanimously voted that the commission’s “red flags rule” doesn’t apply to lawyers. The legislation at issue, which seeks to curb identity theft among…