Canadian health system has 12,000-patient privacy breach
HIPAA Weekly Advisor, July 13, 2009
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Hackers exposed the Alberta Health Services computer system in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and photographed nearly 12,000 patient records, the Edmonton Sun reported July 9.
The information in the patient records included:
- Names
- Addresses
- Healthcare numbers
- Lab test results and diagnoses
“I'm very worried,” Provincial privacy commissioner Frank Work told the Sun. “As recent events show, there are certainly risks to electronic records. Do we still think there's a significant benefit to electronic health records to take those risks? No one can make the promise of 100% security.”
Officials said the 11,582 patients whose records were breached will be notified by mail.
Read the full story in the Edmonton Sun.
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