patient medical records

Intel said it has shipped WiMax equipment to Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio, which will give medical staff, emergency managers and refugees high-speed Internet access. That will give doctors and other healthcare providers access to patient medical records (when available) and help track potential emerging threats from infectious diseases. The New York Times reports that a wireless provider group called Part 15.org is helping out as well by setting up wireless hotspots …

Computer security experts have been warning for years that a malicious computer virus unleashed by hackers or a terrorist group could create havoc in the healthcare system. On Thursday, we got a look at the kind of problems that could lie ahead for the national health IT infrastructure as the Zotub worm hit Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and quickly propagated across the health system's network, shutting down access to patient medical records at its facilities across New Hampshire. …

A new Justice Department ruling concludes that the government cannot prosecute in many cases in which privacy laws protecting patient medical records are broken. The new interpretation of the law, which is binding for federal agencies, concludes that existing privacy regulations cover healthcare providers but do not apply when employees act on their own. The ruling means the government will not be able to file criminal cases against individuals under the Health Insurance Portability and …

There was a lot happening in the international health IT front this week as several major players made moves worth noting. South Africa's NetCare announced a deal which sees the healthcare network adapting software made by Germany's SAP for managing patient medical records and bookeeping needs.

Meanwhile, in India, GE Healthcare announced it will work with local investors who are building a $250 million healthcare and R&D complex in Gurgaon, a city close to New Delhi. The …

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee said it has signed a deal with Cerner which will see the company develop a database of patient medical records for its TennCare members. BCBS says it will add all of its commercial insurance and Medicaid patients later this year, putting about 2.8 million people in the system, making it the largest in the US. The company also said it is creating a subsidiary to market the system to plans in other states, yet another indication that Cerner may be the company to watch in healthcare.

- see this story from the Nashville Business Journal

A disturbing case involving the loss of 180,000 confidential patient medical records at the San Jose Medical Group appears to have been solved. A former branch manager at the group's McKee office was charged over the weekend with stealing two company laptops and attempting to sell them on EBay. CEO Ernie Wallerstein said Joseph Harris served as a branch manager for the group for around one month. He was asked to resign in September after cash and prescription drugs were found missing at the office. Story

BCBS of Tennessee says it plans to experiment with an online system which will let doctors participating in TennCare to access patient medical records from databases across the organization using a web-based system. BCBS of Tennessee says a secure web portal will allow doctors to increase efficiency and eliminate cases of potential fraud and abuse. A limited trial in Memphis and Chattanooga has shown the system to work. The company says it will expand the pilot to include all 700,000 of …