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HIPAA Compliant News Articles and Enforcement
Potential PHI Disclosure After Employee Works from Home with Hospital Data
The William W. Backus Hospital has sent breach notification letters to 360 individuals alerting them that their Protected Health Information (PHI) may have been viewed by an unauthorized individual. The information potentially viewed includes patient names, medical record numbers, dates of treatment, and information relating to the diagnoses and treatment provided to patients. The hospital…
No One Can Afford to Ignore IT Security Anymore
When discussing data security, it’s common enough to refer to the most recent major breaches. High-profile hacks at retailer Target and insurance giant Anthem have been regular reference points lately, but it’s easy to guess that one or both of them are hoping the Internal Revenue Service will take their place as the poster child…
Hacker Pleads Guilty to Stealing Tax Filings from 4 CPA Firms
A Bulgarian hacker has admitted to participating in a $6 million fraudulent tax return scheme in which he used tax-filing information stolen from at least four major CPA firms in the U.S. Vanyo Minkov, 32, pleaded guilty Monday before U.S. District Judge Jose L. Linares in a Newark, N.J., federal court to a superseding information…
Hospital Employee Steals Protected Patient Data to Commit Identity Theft
Hospital Employee Steals Protected Patient Data to Commit Identity Theft A former employee of the Bethesda Hospital in Boynton Beach, Fla, has been arrested and charged with identity theft; after fraudulently obtaining IDs and credit int he names of 20 individuals, most of which had been patients of the Boynton Beach hospital in which she…
North East Medical Services HIPAA Breach Reported: 69,246 Affected
A North East Medical Services HIPAA breach has been reported which exposed the Protected Health Information of almost 70,000 patients after an unencrypted laptop was stolen from the car of a NEMS employee’s car. According to a breach notice sent to the California Department of Public Health, the incident occurred on July 11, 2015. The…
Detroit Area Doctor Sentenced to 45 Years in Prison for Health Care Fraud Scheme
A Detroit area hematologist-oncologist was sentenced today to serve 45 years in prison for his role in a health care fraud scheme that included administering medically unnecessary infusions or injections to 553 individual patients and submitting to Medicare and private insurance companies approximately $34 million in fraudulent claims. Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of…
Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against Medical Center for Data Breach
A class action lawsuit has been filed in the Kanawha Circuit Court against Charleston Area Medical Center, for a data breach that occurred between August 2013 and February 2014. The lawsuit has been filed by two plaintiffs who were patients of the medical center at the time of the data breach. Tiffany Mallion and Nickole…
UCLA Hacked Up to 4.5 Million Patients and Hospital Staff Members Exposed
The University of California, Los Angeles Health System (UCLA) has reported it has been targeted by hackers who potentially accessed and copied a database containing the Protected Health Information (PHI) of up to 4.5 million patients and hospital staff members. The UCLA Health network consists of four hospitals: The Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, UCLA…
PHI Falls From Sky At Women’s Soccer Parade
The U.S. Women’s World Cup Soccer champions toured NYC celebrating their historic win, and were treated to a shower of confetti, some of which appeared to be made from medical prescription records. One local resident noticed the confetti contained writing and upon closer inspection, realized it was Protected Health Information. The confetti was photographed and…