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“The UPI would facilitate the vast data-sharing permitted without consent under HIPAA,” said Twila Brase, president and co-founder of CCHF. “This national patient ID would enable government and other third parties to link every piece of data in every medical record of every patient into one longitudinal digital dossier, leaving patients with no options for keeping their data, their personal lives, and their medical conditions confidential. As troubling as the privacy implications, this federal ID card would also become mandatory for patient access to care. In short -- no card, no care.”

Dozens of employees at Northwestern Hospital have been terminated for allegedly accessing Jussie Smollett’s medical records. Smollett was taken to the Chicago medical facility following his alleged attack by two men back in January. The Empire actor, who is currently out on bail, has since been charged with disorderly conduct and filing a false report, a felony. Smollett’s legal team, however, told ESSENCE in a statement that they will “mount an aggressive defense.” The hospital employees are alleged to have gained access to Smollett’s medical chart after Chicago police and prosecutors claimed the actor staged his January 29 attack, CBS2...

Boston Mayor Martin Walsh wants to mandate that Doctors teach patients about gun safety. It appears to be another Orwellian definition. Gun safety in these circumstances seems to mean getting rid of guns. There is no mention of using known gun safety experts who have been working on the subject for decades. From bizjournals.com: Involving doctors in gun safety: This act would require medical professionals to ask patients about guns in the home, and bring up the topics of gun safety. The goal, Boston Police Commissioner William Gross said, is to identify those at risk for domestic violence, suicide...

It seems tougher by the hour for Planned Parenthood to rationalize its long-held motto, “Care. No Matter What.” That steep task just got harder this week, amid revelations that a shuttered Planned Parenthood abortion clinic in Iowa broke client confidentiality by leaving behind personal health information (PHI) records for over 2,500 of its former clients. In early May, a Dubuque office affiliated with Planned Parenthood of the Heartland completed the sale of its property to Clarity Clinic, a local pregnancy help organization, and left behind a closet full of patient files that took Planned Parenthood staff 10 days to come...

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) said Thursday that "Medicare for All" proposals should be “evaluated” if Democrats win back the House this year, adding “it’s all on the table." Pelosi has long backed a public option for health insurance, but has not supported going further — as many Democrats want — and setting up government-run, universal health insurance. The Democratic leader did not explicitly endorse the idea of Medicare for All during a press conference Wednesday, but she also did not rule out the proposal. “I've always been for a public option so I'm always eager to talk about...

He is seeking unspecified damages for negligence A Long Island man is suing CVS after a pharmacist allegedly blabbed about his use of an erectile-dysfunction drug to his wife. The New York Post reports Michael Feinberg had a prescription for Viagra that he would pay for himself and worked for it not to go through his insurance. When Feinberg’s wife called the pharmacy chain’s Merrick store to get word on one of her own prescriptions she had filed, the employee opened up about her husband’s secret, the Post reported, citing the lawsuit. Feinberg claims the pharmacy chain violated his privacy...

Facebook was in talks with top hospitals and other medical groups as recently as last month about a proposal to share data about the social networks of their most vulnerable patients. The idea was to build profiles of people that included their medical conditions, information that health systems have, as well as social and economic factors gleaned from Facebook. Facebook said the project is on hiatus so it can focus on "other important work, including doing a better job of protecting people's data."

Excerpt Only due to AP.SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A hospital patient who a Utah nurse said she was protecting when she refused to allow police to draw his blood has died.

When ObamaCare was first promulgated, my fine HMO doctor called it quits. MDs who hate the New Medicine talk about it very quietly, if at all, and mostly among themselves. Shutting up the medical profession was the first order of business for the Left establishment, and they were duly scapegoated in the Fakestream Media. Like most of you, I assumed that all those HIPAA forms they made me sign over the years actually meant what they said they meant. About medical privacy and such. So, it came as a surprise to me when I called another doc's office and a...

Physicians Almost Unanimous in Opposition to HIPAA 'Privacy' Rules New federal "privacy" rules could actually do more harm to patients than just compromising privacy, according to a national physician organization. A mailed survey of 344 physicians conducted by the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) shows almost unanimous opposition to the HHS privacy rules, scheduled for full implementation in 2003. A whopping 96 percent thought the rules would further compromise patient privacy. Some of the other questions provide further clues about the practical effects of the rules. The poll results were disclosed at a news conference today in Washington,...

NBC News has a new article about Donald Trump’s doctor of 35 years, Dr. Harold Bornstein—the guy who claimed that Trump, if elected, would be “the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency.” The dude looks like a character from a bad 70s porno flick, but Deadspin’s Tim Burke spotted something weirder: Dr. Bornstein is using Windows XP. Why does it matter if Dr. Bornstein is using an outdated operating system? Well, it could be a violation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Microsoft stopped supporting Windows XP back in 2014 and HIPAA requires doctors to make...

Precision Medicine Initiative and Data Security | whitehouse.gov (05/25/2016 White house decree) https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2016/05/25/precision-medicine-initiative-and-data-security?mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiTVRFNE1Ua3laRGRqTlRZMyIsInQiOiJ1R1VHbTk3M2o5NmhHSFQrOHNYdXZKakE4OW1tWTJlSUszSThzbnRnRkNlSGZjK2VCREJGWG5xemdyanpIQUdLU3pJSjBHYTdZd2hPUERUdmliaVBMZjA3SjNUYVY2WUt2Z1pTS0xXdTNqcz0ifQ%3D%3D Precision Medicine Initiative and Data Security May 25, 2016 at 3:00 PM ET by Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell, Lisa O. Monaco Twitter Facebook Email Summary: Today, we are pleased to release the final Data Security Policy Principles and Framework (Security Framework) for President Obama’s Precision Medicine Initiative (PMI).     “We’re going to make sure that protecting patient privacy is built into our efforts from day one.”     - President Barack Obama, January 30th 2015 The health care system of the future is taking shape right now, and...

When a dolphin died in New Jersey's South River last year, Carly Sitrin wanted to know what killed it. So she filed a public record request to the NJ Department of Agriculture in order to get the necropsy results. The DOA finally responded last week with the weird decision to deny the release of the record on grounds of medical privacy. The response reads in part: "We are in receipt of your request for information (#W101407) under the auspices of the State’s Open Public Records Act (O.P.R.A.). Specifically, you requested any and all reports associated with the necropsy of the...

HIPAA Privacy Rule Modified for Gun Background Checks http://www.healthcareinfosecurity.com/hipaa-privacy-rule-modified-for-gun-background-checks-a-8780 HIPAA Privacy Rule Modified for Gun Background Checks But Most Providers Won't Be Affected by the Change Marianne Kolbasuk McGee (HealthInfoSec) • January 5, 2016  Jocelyn Samuels, Director of OCR A modification to the HIPAA Privacy Rule designed to help identify those who are prohibited, for specific mental health reasons, from having a firearm will have little impact on most healthcare providers because it's so narrow in scope. See Also: Exploring the Security Requirements for Virtual Machines The change, which is slated to take effect next month, permits only a small...

Many Americans think the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) protects their medical privacy, but federal bureaucrats issue thousands of subpoenas every year without prior judicial approval to get around the law.“If you don’t have a reasonable expectation of privacy against government in your medical care, then where does it exist at all? If that’s not private, then what is?” Adam Bates, a criminal justice policy analyst at the libertarian Cato Institute, told The Daily Caller News Foundation.Congress passed HIPAA in 1996 with a promise that it would clamp down on waste, fraud and abuse in the health care...

Job Description Company DescriptionPlanned Parenthood of Los Angeles is Los Angeles County's women's and reproductive health care educational and clinical delivery Center of Excellence. PPLA provides the highest quality, most cost-effective services to residents, regardless of their insurance status or ability to pay. PPLA develops innovative partnerships with public and private insurance companies, provider organizations, and California's health benefit exchange to provide leadership in improving women's and reproductive health outcomes; to ensure and increase patient access; to increase patient satisfaction, by providing patient-centered care that is timely, efficient and equitable; and, to coordinate care that improves clinical, financial, and administrative...

Jason Pierre-Paul, the star defensive end for the NFL’s New York Giants, had one of his fingers amputated on Wednesday, ESPN reported. Specifically, doctors removed Pierre-Paul’s right index finger, which was injured in a fireworks accident on Saturday, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Pierre-Paul’s injury and surgery, which remain shrouded in mystery, have become one of the biggest stories of the NFL offseason — and one of the most high-profile patient data breaches in years. The news of JPP’s injury first broke on Sunday when a hospital worker reportedly told his friend, who then posted the news to Twitter. Rumors...

BALTIMORE – The highest-ranking Baltimore police officer in the arrest that led to Freddie Gray's death was hospitalized in April 2012 over mental health concerns for an unknown duration and had his guns confiscated by local sheriff's deputies, according to records from the sheriff's office and court obtained by The Associated Press.

This thread is intended to provide awareness that all of our healthcare patient PHI data(personal healthcare information), medical records, prescriptions, etc. is increasingly shared among hundreds of thousands of healthcare entities that are exempt from HIPAA PHI distribution restrictions. You are not permitted to opt out via a consent form. Cash payment for healthcare services is also frequently recorded, as well. This is a 2+ Billion dollar a year business that is largely unregulated. Healthcare records have huge repercussions that can impact an individual's ability to attain employment and insurance. Healthcare records also influence government and law enforcement action. Many...

HIPAA is why there's a new plan to share your data. A 28-page federal document proposes to share your medical records with 37 federal agencies. (See graphic of the week below). The deadline for public comments on this sweeping intrusion is Friday, February 6, 2015. Go here to tell them what you think. Without privacy, you have no control. He who holds the data makes the rules. The Obama administration is gathering your data to seize control of your doctor. The 2009 mandate for every doctor to have electronic health records (EHRs) was considered foundational to imposing Obamacare. Even though...