Health News
- Patient Portals At Leitchfield Hospital Are Breached In Cyber Attack; Officials Say It Did Not Involve Any Data In State System
By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News Twin Lakes Regional Medical Center's patient portals were the target of a sophisticated cyber attack earlier this year, which may have breached protected patient health information, reports The Record,...
- Uk Hospital Tells 1,079 Former Patients That A Laptop Computer With Their Medical Records Was Stolen In Early February
The University of Kentucky reported Wednesday that personal health information of 1,079 people who had been patients at its hospital was on a laptop computer that was stolen in early February. UK HealthCare said the computer, which was password-protected,...
- Scammers Taking Advantage Of New Health-insurance System
Scammers are using the new health-insurance system "as an opportunity to try to collect consumers? personal information or to make false claims," Gov. Steve Beshear and Attorney General Jack Conway warned Tuesday. Conway's office sent civil investigative...
- Data Leaks Are A Risk With Electronic Health Records; State Says It Has Safeguards To Protect Privacy
As hospitals and other health-care providers in Kentucky and across the country are adopting electronic health records to save money and improve care, they do so at some risk. The medical files containing insurance forms, Social Security numbers...
- Medical Records A Key Factor In Patient Safety
Whether it's a nursing home resident needing a procedure, or tracking medications for a hospital inpatient, medical records are a crucial component to successful treatment. Right now, LifeBridge Health has hybrid medical records systems, which include...
Health News
Medical identity theft increasing; survey says 43% of leaks involve medical records
Modern technology has brought about an increase in identity theft and lately in a particularly dangerous form: medical identity theft. According to a survey conducted by the Identity Theft Resource Center, 43 percent of all record breaches in personal information in 2013 involved health records . That's more than those involved with banking and finance, education, the government and the military, Michael Ollove writes for Stateline.
Medical identity theft is deceptively obtaining another person's personal information?such as name, Social Security number and health-insurance number?to get medical services, reimbursements or prescription drugs. "Medical identity theft is a growing and dangerous crime that leaves its victims with little to no recourse for recovery," said Pam Dixon, World Privacy Forum's founder and executive director. "Victims often experience financial repercussions and worse yet, they frequently discover erroneous information has been added to their personal medical files due to the thief's activities."
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act has caused even more concern about the privacy of medical information. Some people worry that online marketplaces could compromise confidentiality, and with the increased push for digitized medical records comes questions about the level of security of the computer networks. "Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor who has disclosed the agency's activities to the media, says the NSA has cracked the encryption used to protect the medical records of millions of Americans," Ollove writes.
According to Sam Imandoust of the Identity Theft Resource Center, thieves can obtain medical information by stealing laptops or hacking into computer networks. "With a click of a few buttons, you might have access to the records of 10,000 patients. Each bit of information can be sold for $10 to $20," he said. Over half of the security breaches result from a stolen electronic device, 20 percent result from a person's obtaining unauthorized access to information or giving it to someone who shouldn't have it and 14 percent result from hacking.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and the Health Information Technology Act are the two federal laws that mandate the confidentiality of medical records. A business, institution or provider can be charged between $100 and $50,000 for failing to meet privacy standards, and a person who violates HIPAA could be charged a fine of $50,000 and serve up to a year in prison.
Even if the breach is discovered, that doesn't undo all the damage, Ollove writes. "It's almost impossible to clear up a medical record once medical identity theft has occurred," said James Pyles, a Washington, D.C., lawyer who has dealt with health issues for more than 40 years. "If someone is getting false information into your file, theirs gets laced with yours, and it's impossible to segregate what information is about you and what is about them." The U.S. has "a regulated industry that is saddled with laws with so many loopholes that they don't know what they are responsible for and a public that doesn't believe their health information is being protected." (Read more)
Medical identity theft is deceptively obtaining another person's personal information?such as name, Social Security number and health-insurance number?to get medical services, reimbursements or prescription drugs. "Medical identity theft is a growing and dangerous crime that leaves its victims with little to no recourse for recovery," said Pam Dixon, World Privacy Forum's founder and executive director. "Victims often experience financial repercussions and worse yet, they frequently discover erroneous information has been added to their personal medical files due to the thief's activities."
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act has caused even more concern about the privacy of medical information. Some people worry that online marketplaces could compromise confidentiality, and with the increased push for digitized medical records comes questions about the level of security of the computer networks. "Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor who has disclosed the agency's activities to the media, says the NSA has cracked the encryption used to protect the medical records of millions of Americans," Ollove writes.
According to Sam Imandoust of the Identity Theft Resource Center, thieves can obtain medical information by stealing laptops or hacking into computer networks. "With a click of a few buttons, you might have access to the records of 10,000 patients. Each bit of information can be sold for $10 to $20," he said. Over half of the security breaches result from a stolen electronic device, 20 percent result from a person's obtaining unauthorized access to information or giving it to someone who shouldn't have it and 14 percent result from hacking.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and the Health Information Technology Act are the two federal laws that mandate the confidentiality of medical records. A business, institution or provider can be charged between $100 and $50,000 for failing to meet privacy standards, and a person who violates HIPAA could be charged a fine of $50,000 and serve up to a year in prison.
Even if the breach is discovered, that doesn't undo all the damage, Ollove writes. "It's almost impossible to clear up a medical record once medical identity theft has occurred," said James Pyles, a Washington, D.C., lawyer who has dealt with health issues for more than 40 years. "If someone is getting false information into your file, theirs gets laced with yours, and it's impossible to segregate what information is about you and what is about them." The U.S. has "a regulated industry that is saddled with laws with so many loopholes that they don't know what they are responsible for and a public that doesn't believe their health information is being protected." (Read more)
- Patient Portals At Leitchfield Hospital Are Breached In Cyber Attack; Officials Say It Did Not Involve Any Data In State System
By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News Twin Lakes Regional Medical Center's patient portals were the target of a sophisticated cyber attack earlier this year, which may have breached protected patient health information, reports The Record,...
- Uk Hospital Tells 1,079 Former Patients That A Laptop Computer With Their Medical Records Was Stolen In Early February
The University of Kentucky reported Wednesday that personal health information of 1,079 people who had been patients at its hospital was on a laptop computer that was stolen in early February. UK HealthCare said the computer, which was password-protected,...
- Scammers Taking Advantage Of New Health-insurance System
Scammers are using the new health-insurance system "as an opportunity to try to collect consumers? personal information or to make false claims," Gov. Steve Beshear and Attorney General Jack Conway warned Tuesday. Conway's office sent civil investigative...
- Data Leaks Are A Risk With Electronic Health Records; State Says It Has Safeguards To Protect Privacy
As hospitals and other health-care providers in Kentucky and across the country are adopting electronic health records to save money and improve care, they do so at some risk. The medical files containing insurance forms, Social Security numbers...
- Medical Records A Key Factor In Patient Safety
Whether it's a nursing home resident needing a procedure, or tracking medications for a hospital inpatient, medical records are a crucial component to successful treatment. Right now, LifeBridge Health has hybrid medical records systems, which include...