Paul Muschick and Emily Opilo report on one of those data protection fails that sometimes happen when a practice closes. And once again, we find no one stepping up to admit responsibility for the improper disposal of patient records with personally identifiable information and sensitive protected health information.
In this case, the records appear to come from Women’s Health Consultants, “a now-closed practice that operated at 1611 Pond Road in South Whitehall Township and 5325 Northgate Drive in Hanover Township, Northampton County.”
Read more on McCall.com. This is exactly the kind of case I wish HHS/OCR would pursue for enforcement to send a message that it will cost you dearly if you don’t dispose of records securely. It may be that a contractor hired did something wrong or in error. It may be the former administrator did something wrong or in error. At this point, we don’t know.
But someone did something and there needs to be an investigation and accountability.