Topic

Data Breach


Study: 96% of data breaches avoidable

Industry News | Monday, August 23 2010
A full 96 percent of data breaches are avoidable through simple or intermediate controls, according to “2010 Data Breach Investigations Report,” research conducted by Verizon’s Business Risk team in cooperation with the U.S. Secret Service.
 

Conn. AG investigates Yale med school data breach

Top Stories | Sunday, August 22 2010
The office of Connecticut's Attorney General (AG) is investigating a data breach at Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Conn., after the institute reported the theft of a laptop containing personal health information involving as many as 1,000 individuals.
 

Mass. hospital: Back-up data for 800,000 may be lost

Top Stories | Monday, July 19 2010
South Shore Hospital of South Weymouth, Mass., has reported that back-up computer files for approximately 800,000 individuals that could contain personally identifiable personal, health and financial information may have been lost by a professional data management company.
 

UMaine breach exposes 4,585 students' clinical data

Industry News | Thursday, July 08 2010
The University of Maine police department is leading the investigation into the breach of two UMaine computer servers this spring. Sensitive data related to approximately 4,585 students were exposed as a result of attacks by hackers, according to a statement by the University.
 

Anthem Blue Cross notifies 470,000 patients of breach

Top Stories | Friday, June 25 2010
Approximately 470,000 insurance applicants are being notified in multiple states by Anthem Blue Cross after recently learning that persons of interest manipulated the payor’s Individual Application Tracker web portal, which allows people applying for insurance to track the status of their insurance applications.
 

Rep blasts VA over data breaches

Top Stories | Monday, May 17 2010
In the wake of two data breaches of veterans’ health information, Rep. Steven Buyer, R-Ind., ranking Republican on the U.S. House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, sent a stinging letter to Erik K.Shinseki, Secretary of the VA, criticizing the agency’s “continuing material weakness in veterans’ personal information from data breaches.”
 

Potential Ky. data breach reported

Industry News | Wednesday, May 12 2010
Our Lady of Peace, a 278-bed psychiatric hospital in Louisville, Ky., is notifying 24,600 individuals about a potential patient data breach after a flash drive containing unencrypted patient information went missing April 1.
 

HIMSS: More hospital security breaches in 2010, but greater awareness

Industry News | Wednesday, April 07 2010
The number of healthcare facilities that reported a breach in security that requires notification increased 6 percent from 13 percent in 2008 to 19 percent in 2010, according to the 2010 HIMSS Analytics report on the security of patient data, commissioned by Kroll Fraud Solutions.
 

Colorado patients mailed protected health data; investigation under way

Industry News | Tuesday, April 06 2010
Boulder Community Hospital (BCH) in Colorado has been contacted by patients of Lafayette, Colo.-based Family Medical Associates, who were mailed copies of their own protected health information by an anonymous source. An accompanying letter claims that the information was stolen from Community Medical Center’s recycling bins, according to BCH.
 

HHS: About 60K patients affected by data breaches in 2010

Industry News | Monday, March 29 2010
The Office for Civil Rights of the Department of Health and Human Services has identified 12 organizations in 2010 on its web site listing HIPAA-covered entities and their business associates that have reported breaches of unsecured protected health information affecting 500 or more individuals.
 

Report: Data breach costs steadily rising

Industry News | Thursday, January 28 2010
U.S. organizations continue to experience increased costs from data breaches, according to a recent study from the consulting firm Ponemon Institute. The average organizational cost of a data breach increased nearly 2 percent, from $6.65 million in 2008 to $6.75 million in 2009.
 

Healthcare hacker attempts double in Q4

Industry News | Tuesday, January 26 2010
Security company SecureWorks recently reported that attempted hacker attacks aimed at its healthcare clients doubled in the fourth quarter of 2009 from an average of 6,500 per healthcare client per day in the first nine months of 2009 to an average of 13,400 per client per day in the last three months of 2009.
 

Webinar: Are organizations up to speed with 2010 HIPAA policies?

Web Exclusives | Thursday, January 14 2010
Written by Gina Narcisi
Organizations should act prior to the implementation of the new (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) HIPAA compliance guideline changes for 2010 and consistently monitor their facilities in order to make an easier transition and avoid the extended penalties that are now being proposed, said HIPAA privacy and security consult Grant Peterson during a Jan. 13 Webinar on the guidelines.
 

Blue Cross warns of physician data exposure

Top Stories | Thursday, October 08 2009
The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) has begun re-evaluating its security policies after a laptop containing sensitive BCBSA data concerning physicians was stolen in August from an employee’s car.
 

FTC issues final PHR breach-notification rule

Top Stories | Thursday, August 20 2009
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued a final rule requiring certain Web-based personal health record (PHR) vendors to notify consumers when the security of their electronic health information has been breached.
 

HHS issues notification rule in patient data breaches

Top Stories | Wednesday, August 19 2009
New regulations requiring healthcare providers, health plans and other HIPAA-covered entities to notify an individual when their health information is breached were issued Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
 

UCSD cancer center hit by hacker

Top Stories | Monday, July 20 2009
University of California San Diego's (UCSD) Moores Cancer Center has sent a letter to 30,000 patients, after a hacker breached its computers and gained access to patients' personal information, according to a report in the San Diego Union Tribune.
 

Kaiser fined $250K for octuplet data breach

Top Stories | Monday, May 18 2009
Kaiser Permanente Bellflower Hospital in Bellflower, Calif., has been fined $250,000 for unauthorized employee access to the medical records of Nadya Suleman, the woman who gave birth to octuplets in January this year.
 

Berkeley health records safe after six-month data breach

Industry News | Wednesday, May 13 2009
The University of California (UC) Berkeley began notifying students, alumni and others on May 8 that their personal information may have been stolen after learning in April that hackers had accessed restricted computer databases in its health services center.
 

FBI investigates hacker's $10M ransom for Virginia medical records

Top Stories | Friday, May 08 2009
While Virginia state officials said there is no evidence that personal information was stolen by hackers who accessed a computer system that collects data on approximately 8.3 million patients, the State Police and the FBI have launched a formal investigation into the matter.
 
Web Exclusives

Feature: U.S. needs national strategy to curb imaging overutilization

Medical imaging overutilization--a growing concern in the U.S.--exposes patients to unnecessary radiation, while also adding to rising healthcare costs, according to a study published online Aug. 24 in Radiology. In an interview, William R. Hendee, PhD, lead author, reviewed various methods by which medical imaging could be curtailed.

Radiology: Prelim study shows CE breast CT outperforms CT, mammo

Dedicated contrast-enhanced (CE) breast CT delivered significantly improved conspicuity of malignant breast lesions, including ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), compared with unenhanced breast CT and mammography, according to a study published in the September issue of Radiology.

Radiology: Rad role may evolve as image-guided biopsies trend up

CT, ultrasound and MRI have helped shift biopsy techniques away from more invasive approaches toward image-guided percutaneous techniques, according to a study published in the September issue of Radiology. The trend toward less-invasive approaches translates into enhanced safety and efficiency and could lead to more interaction between patients and radiologists.

CMS Webinar: Incentive payments to offset EHR adoption, not reimburse

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) EHR incentive payments are not considered reimbursement for money expended on EHR technology, but are intended to offset the cost associated with adoption and ongoing meaningful use, according to CMS during an Aug. 12 webinar.

CMS webinar: Eligible professionals can expect EHR incentives in 2011

Funding incentives for EHR use is the main goal of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) meaningful use initiative, and there are incentive programs for both hospitals and eligible professionals, according to Elizabeth Holland, health insurance specialist at the Department of Health and Human Services, who spoke during a CMS-sponsored webinar Aug. 8.

Webinar: Stage 1 of meaningful use is for quality reporting acclimation

Stage 1 requirements for meaningful use incentives aim to strike a balance between the overall goal of EHR use and widespread adoption, while avoiding added work, said Jonathan Teich, MD, PhD, chief medical informatics officer at Elsevier Health Services, during a HIMSS webinar titled “Meaningful Use: Safety and Quality of Care.”

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