Colo. Springs hospital looks for missing data

by The Associated Press
Article Last Updated; Sunday, September 27, 2009 12:37AM

COLORADO SPRINGS - A Colorado Springs hospital and police are investigating the apparent theft of Social Security numbers and other personal information of 175 patients.
Penrose Hospital officials believe someone took a binder containing a list of people who received outpatient ultrasounds in August and early September. They don't believe the binder was misplaced.

Centura Health, which oversees Penrose, is paying for a year of identity theft protection for the affected patients.

The health system no longer is keeping the information on paper for any department. Locks were changed for the imaging department and new locking cabinets were installed.

The hospital also contacted federal officials who oversee medical privacy law.

http://durangoherald.com/sections/News/2009/09/27/Colo_Springs_hospital_looks_for_missing_data

University data breach exposes 163,000 women to identity theft

A hacker attack on a UNC server exposed 236,000 women’s information related to a medical research study, including 163,000 Social Security numbers.

The exposure was detected in late July, and the program has been working to inform the women that their information was exposed and determine how to prevent similar breaches in the future.

While the University hired a private computing expert to investigate the incident, it has not been able to identify the source of the attack or exactly what happened.

“We couldn’t tell that anything was actually taken,” said Karen McCall, vice president of public affairs and marketing for UNC Health Care and the School of Medicine. “But we can’t be sure.”
http://www.dailytarheel.com/content/hackers-prey-unc-server


Miaoulis NOTE: Since this breach occured prior to September 23, 2009, the HITECH Breach Notification Laws do not apply, however state law applies.

Wrong FAX Number

Tennessee gave doctors wrong fax number in privacy breach
Patients' private medical records faxed out of state

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20090929/NEWS01/909290346/Tennessee+gave+doctors+wrong+fax+number+in+privacy+breach


The Tennessee Department of Human Services said it accidentally sent the wrong fax number to 100 medical providers across the state, leading them to erroneously send sensitive patient information to an Indiana businessman.
"We're extremely embarrassed, and we're working to remedy the situation," said Michelle Mowery Johnson, spokeswoman for DHS. "We hope it doesn't happen again."

Miaoulis NOTE: The HITECH Breach Notification requirements could be enacted, however, it is unclear how each physician's office will comply with the regulations.