Charges are still hanging over the head of a nurse accused of accessing over 5,800 patients’ information improperly over a period of years. I had previously noted the incident on this blog in 2011 when it was first made public. Now it seems like it will be June before we know whether she will be…
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When – if ever – is notification delayed, notification denied?
Most people I know want law enforcement to investigate some breaches and realize that, sometimes, that results delaying notification of those affected by a breach. But when does delay in notification become unreasonable or too long? Charles Sweeney reports that Samaritan Hospital in Troy, New York delayed notification from November 2011 – when it determined…
Better Safeguards Urged for Medical Records
Kathleen Struck reports: Hacking into patient medical records can be as easy as tapping into a hospital’s unsecured wireless network from a laptop in the parking lot. Government auditors proved it “by sitting in hospital parking lots with simple laptop computers” and obtaining “patient information from unsecured hospital wireless networks,” according to Julie K. Taitsman,…
Hospitals tap drugstores to curb readmissions
Some collaboration or sharing of patient information seems potentially useful, even if it is money motivating the sharing. Julie Bird reports: Hospitals are looking to large drugstore chains, their vast databases and patient-outreach resources to help reduce hospital readmission rates. With medication discrepancies doubling the risk of hospital readmissions, contracting with drugstores to monitor for…
Journalist uncovers hospital data breaches in France
Winston J. Maxwell writes: An article published by specialist healthcare news website Actusoins has revealed data breaches at several French hospitals and clinics, demonstrating that such incidents can occur even in a highly regulated jurisdiction. The journalist was researching another article and entered the name of a physician into Google. She was astonished to find, at…
Dutch MP who hacked into medical file system to make point about security fined by court
Loek Essers reports: Dutch Member of Parliament (MP) Henk Krol was fined ¬750 (US$1,000) by the district court of Oost-Brabant on Friday for breaking and entering the system of the Dutch medical laboratory Diagnostics for You. Krol said he entered the system as an ethical hacker to show that it was easy to access and…