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Pitfalls with Health Care Provider Data

2 Responses

1. Darrell K. Pruitt DDS, on December 16, 2014 at 12:02 AM said:

   More on … Health Data Breaches

   “Lost doctor-patient connection”

   http://letterstotheeditorblog.dallasnews.com/2014/12/lost-doctor-patient-connection.html/

   Dan Mingea MD
   [Wylie, Texas]
   Letters to the Editor
   The Dallas Morning News, December 15, 2014

   “Relating to electronic health records, the story states, ‘systems are too often replacing important, old-fashioned communication among caregivers.’ Electronic health records do very little to improve patient care. Instead, the electronic record is a database for bean counters, enabling them to easily access health care data and demographics.”

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   “Nearly Half of Patients Withheld Info in Their EHR”

   http://www.healthdatamanagement.com/news/Nearly-Half-of-Patients-Withheld-Info-in-Their-EHR-49450-1.html

   Apparently, we are losing patients’ trust.

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   The bankruptcy-level danger of temptation

   “Personal Data of 200,000 Compromised by Former Employee – A former employee improperly accessed the personal data of approximately 200,000 individuals.”

   Elizabeth Snell
   [HealthSecurity December 15, 2014]

   http://healthitsecurity.com/2014/12/15/personal-data-of-200000-compromised-by-former-employee/

   “The breach occurred when an employee accessed the database in an unauthorized manner in order to obtain the personal information, including social security numbers, of individuals contained in the database,” explained the statement. “The employee is no longer employed by Family Central.”

   Let’s face it. The increasing value of stolen identities creates a temptation for some employees in dental offices as well. So is anyone interested in de-identification of dentists’ primary records

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   It gets worse

   “Healthcare to be ‘plagued’ by data breaches in 2015 – Coming year will see a ‘persistent and growing threat’ of compromised data and medical identity theft. The risk of experiencing a data breach ‘is higher than ever,’ according to Experian’s second annual industry forecast, which shows how the ‘consistently high value of healthcare data on the black market’ means there will be little respite from risk-fraught landscape.”

   By Mike Miliard
   [Editor at Healthcare IT News-December 12, 2014]

   http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/healthcare-plagued-breaches-2015#%2EVJAby-4QueQ%2Elinkedin

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   Much worse

   Clay County Hospital Patient Information Compromised – Hospital Administration Working with the FBI; No Evidence of Public Disclosure.

   FLORA, Ill., Dec. 15, 2014 /PRNewswire

   “On November 2, 2014 Clay County Hospital received an anonymous email that contained protected health information of some clinic patients. The email sender threatened to release this information to the public if they did not receive a substantial payment from the hospital. The hospital immediately notified law enforcement and quickly launched a forensic investigation to determine the source and scope of the incident. All affected patients were notified by first-class mail on December 15, 2014.”
   
   http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/clay-county-hospital-patient-information-compromised-300009670.html

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   And to top it all off….

   “Despite a 2005 prediction that electronic health records (EHRs) would save $81 billion, RAND Corporation just validated clinicians’ complaints in a report describing EHRs as ‘a unique and vexing challenge to physician professional satisfaction.’ The American Medical Association also published EHR ‘usability priorities’ – strong evidence that current EHRs don’t support doctors in practicing medicine.”

   The Strategic Challenge Of Electronic Health Records
   [Scott Wallace for HealthAffairs Blog-December 16, 2014]

   http://healthaffairs.org/blog/2014/12/16/the-strategic-challenge-of-electronic-health-records/

   It looks like a wicked week for EHR vendors and other stakeholders.

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   Wait. There’s more

   “Reeve-Woods Eye Center notifies 30,000 patients after malware discovered on computers.” By Dissent for PHI Privacy, December 16, 2014.

   http://www.phiprivacy.net/reeve-woods-eye-center-notifies-30000-patients-after-malware-discovered-on-computers/

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   News Release, December 16, 2014 – Rouge Valley Health System Failed to Protect Patient Health Information

   “A review by the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario (IPC) of two significant privacy breaches involving the sale of new mothers’ personal health information for financial gain has determined that Rouge Valley Health System (hospital) failed to put in place reasonable technical and administrative safeguards to protect patient information.”

   Over 14,000 patients are potentially affected.

   Click to access 2014-12-16-HO-013-e_1.pdf

   Darrell K. Pruitt DDS

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2. D. Kellus Pruitt DDS, on January 14, 2016 at 12:50 PM said:

   Gold Rush for Data Thieves

   “Electronic Health Records: a gold rush for data thieves,” by Edgar Wilson for Digital Journal, January 13, 2016.

   http://www.digitaljournal.com/technology/electronic-health-records-a-gold-rush-for-data-thieves/article/454690

   “Even after more than 110 million (documented) breaches of sensitive health data over the course of 2015 alone, this neglect looks poised to continue.”

   What does the American Dental Association have to say about this?

   …(crickets)

   D. Kellus Pruitt DDS

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   EHRs risk the loss of one’s privacy in both legal and illegal ways. Watch the mission creep …

   “HIPAA Privacy Rule Modified to Permit Covered Entities to Make Certain Limited Disclosures to National Instant Criminal Background System,” National Law Review, January 8, 2016.

   http://www.natlawreview.com/article/hipaa-privacy-rule-modified-to-permit-covered-entities-to-make-certain-limited

   D. Kellus Pruitt DDS

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