Healthcare professionals should know all this already, but there’s a well-written piece for the public on myths about what HIPAA does and does not do. One of the best lines in the piece, in my opinion, is that HIPAA was intended to be a valve, not a blockage. Come to think of it, maybe readers…
Category: Healthcare
The Secret Documents That Detail How Patients’ Privacy is Breached
by Charles Ornstein ProPublica, July 21, 2016, 8 a.m. When the federal government takes the rare step of fining medical providers for violating the privacy and security of patients’ medical information, it issues a press release and posts details on the web. But thousands of times a year, the Office for Civil Rights of the…
Boston Hospital Warns Staff of Privacy Violations with Pokémon Go
Steven Andrews reports: Pokémon Go, the most popular mobile game app ever in the U.S., has captured the attention of players of all ages. But it could also be capturing sensitive images and information in hospitals, which could lead to a violation of HIPAA privacy rules. Employees at Massachusetts General Hospital received an email yesterday reminding them…
Oregon psych board punishes UO counseling center director for releasing student’s records
Diane Dietz reports on some of the aftermath of a breach that made national news and led to revision of Oregon laws: The state psychology regulatory board voted Friday to punish Shelly Kerr, director of the University of Oregon counseling center, for giving a student’s therapy records to university lawyers without the student’s consent. Kerr, a…