Back on November 10, I noted that HHS’s breach tool had added an entry for Gulf Coast Health Care Services: Gulf Coast Health Care Services in Florida suffered a network compromise on August 17 that reportedly affected 13,000 patients. The incident was reported to HHS as “Theft, UnauthorizedAccess/Disclosure, Hacking/IT Incident”,Network Server. I commented at the…
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Ca: Snooping in health files to be made illegal
The Winnipeg Free Press reports: The Selinger government will make it tougher for health-care workers to snoop in patient files. The NDP introduced a bill Wednesday making it an offence for an employee to use or access personal health information without authorization or to falsify that information. […] The legislation already includes penalties for disclosing…
RI: Laptop stolen from Landmark Medical Center (updated)
Tony Gugliotta reports: A laptop computer with a[n Excel] spreadsheet containing certain patient information was stolen from Landmark Medical Center in Woonsocket. The hospital sent out a letter to affected patients that said the computer was set up in a conference room within the hospital and was for used [sic] by authorized employees only. According…
Large-Scale Health Data Breaches Declined in 2012 – So Far, Anyway
Joseph Conn reports: There is some good news on the healthcare data-breach front. According to data compiled on the larger breaches of patient-identifiable medical records reported to HHS’ Office for Civil Rights, 2012 is on track to record fewer breaches than any full year since the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 required such…
Update on Women & Infants Hospital breach
The breach involving missing backup tapes at Women & Infants Hospital was reported to HHS as affecting 14,004 patients.
OMG! Does Your Doctor's Facebook Status Violate HIPAA?
Lynn Sessions and Cory Fox write: Recently, the Federation of State Medical Boards (“the Federation”) released its Model Policy Guidelines for the Appropriate Use of Social Media and Social Networking in Medical Practice (“Guidelines”). The Guidelines are intended to address how physicians can utilize social media to facilitate patient care while still maintaining the privacy and confidentiality…