Vast cache of Kaiser patient details was kept in private home

[Newsjock]

Source: Los Angeles Times

Federal and state officials are investigating whether healthcare giant Kaiser Permanente violated patient privacy in its work with an Indio couple who stored nearly 300,000 confidential hospital records for the company.

The California Department of Public Health has already determined that Kaiser "failed to safeguard all patients' medical records" at one Southern California hospital by giving files to Stephan and Liza Dean for about seven months without a contract. The couple's document storage firm kept those patient records at a warehouse in Indio that they shared with another man's party rental business and his Ford Mustang until 2010.

Until this week, the Deans also had emails from Kaiser and other files listing thousands of patients' names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth and treatment information stored on their home computers.

The state agency said it was awaiting more information from Kaiser on its "plan of correction" before considering any penalties.

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-kaiser-patient-privacy-20130105,0,5688028,full.story

[enlightenment]

1. Plan of correction?

The state is waiting for Kaiser to tell them how they're going to fix this?

There are - at minimum - three people who should be in jail. The couple, who apparently accessed the confidential records, and the person (or persons) who thought this was a good idea.

We have a major problem with identity theft in this country - when are we going to start passing some laws to protect the PEOPLE whose lives are often ruined by this, instead of protecting the companies that allow it to happen?

[Angry Dragon]

2. +5,787