Anne Foster

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Some Things Better Left Unshared: Social Media and Medical Identity Theft

By Anne Foster on Posted in Data Breaches, HIPAA/HITECH, Identity Theft, Medical Privacy, Social Media
The Washington Post recently published an article reminding individuals not to tweet or otherwise share information concerning their medical conditions on social media, warning that disclosing such information publicly “is akin to posting your address along with the dates you’ll be away on vacation.”  Quoting Jennifer Trussell, who investigates medical identity theft on behalf of … Continue Reading

NICS and HIPAA: Where Mental Health Privacy and Gun Control Overlap; HHS Releases Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

Photo of Lynn SessionsBy Anne Foster and Lynn Sessions on Posted in Federal Legislation, HIPAA/HITECH, Medical Privacy
On January 7, 2014, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) for the purpose of modifying the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) to expressly permit certain HIPAA covered entities to disclose to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) the identities … Continue Reading

Financial Institutions Privacy and Security – 2013 Year in Review

Photo of Gerald J. FergusonBy Anne Foster and Gerald J. Ferguson on Posted in Data Breaches, Financial Privacy
Throughout 2013, financial institutions continued to face serious threats from cybercriminals targeting the personal information of banking customers and their financial assets through the use of malicious software and denial of service attacks (DDoS).  In fact, according to the Verizon 2013 Data Breach Investigation Report, which is available here, thirty-seven percent of breaches this year … Continue Reading

Court Overturns Presuit Patient Authorization Requirement Under Florida Medical Malpractice Statute

By Anne Foster on Posted in HIPAA/HITECH, Medical Privacy
On September 25, 2013, the Northern District Court of Florida, Tallahassee Division, ruled that Florida Statute § 766.1065 violated the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”) by requiring a plaintiff in a medical malpractice action to deliver a presuit authorization which allows the defending medical professionals to conduct ex parte interviews of … Continue Reading
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