Patient Data Posted Online in Major Breach of Privacy

http://ow.ly/6pKHe

Article by Kevin Sack appearing on the New York Times.

This article discusses some major breaches of security, and outlines examples of personal medical data that has been exposed of the past 2 years.

As the article mentions, "A medical privacy breach led to the public posting on a commercial Web site of data for 20,000 emergency room patients at Stanford Hospital in Palo Alto, Calif., including names and diagnosis codes, the hospital has confirmed. The information stayed online for nearly a year."

The article provides some additional information regarding other recent data breaches, "Records compiled by the Department of Health and Human Services reveal that personal medical data for more than 11 million people have been improperly exposed during the past two years alone.

Since passage of the federal stimulus package, which includes provisions requiring prompt public reporting of breaches, the government has received notice of 306 cases from September 2009 to June 2011 that affected at least 500 people apiece. A recent report to Congress tallied 30,000 smaller breaches from September 2009 to December 2010, affecting more than 72,000 people."

More needs to be done to protect our personal medical health records, especially in light of the efforts to increase the use of electronic health care records.

Source: http://srmlegal.blogspot.com/