There has always been some level of concern and criticism that when NHS bodies are fined, the fines will reduce the funds available for patient care. An article on Out-Law.com addresses this controversy: The UK’s data protection watchdog has defended its civil monetary penalty regime after it was criticised for the amounts of fines levied…
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JP: Internet used to guard medical records from disaster
Storing sensitive records in the cloud may have its own risks, but is that really worse than losing all your patients’ records? Yasuhiro Kobayashi reports what happened in Japan last year following the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami: According to Miyagi Prefecture’s medical association, 163 facilities, or 90 percent of hospitals and clinics in the…
NL: Groene Hart Ziekenhuis (Green Heart Hospital) leaking medical records
I hate relying on Google Translate, but this article seems to detail a very serious web leak involving a hospital in the Netherlands, Groene Hart Ziekenhuis. It seems the hospital used an outside provider who didn’t adequately secure the data and an ethical hacker was able to access patient records via FTP. Patient records going back to…
California Adds Affirmative Defense to Medical Privacy Law
Michael Epshteyn writes: A new law that amends the California Confidentiality of Medical Information Act (CMIA) may provide some relief to HIPAA covered entities and business associates, some of whom have faced class action lawsuits seeking millions in statutory damages under the CMIA for large-scale data breaches. Because the CMIA—unlike HIPAA—creates a private right of…
Editorial: Hospital should turn over records
A situation in New Hampshire has pitted hospitals’ obligations to protect patient privacy against the state’s legitimate interest in investigating a serious public health and criminal issue. SeacoastOnline has an editorial on the case: The state Department of Public Health has done a great deal to help Exeter Hospital, its patients and the community at…
That "HIPAA Release" says WHAT?
Over on Simple Justice, criminal defense attorney Scott Greenfield discusses a news story that is an eye-opener of sorts. It has do with how the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office has tried to capitalize on our tendency to not really read HIPAA release authorizations we are asked to sign at a doctor’s office. Read the following carefully:…