#Patient privacy

#Patient privacy

Today's reminder of the insider threat comes to us from the National Health Service in the U.K. Craig Meighan and Billy Gaddi report: A woman has been charged after Scots patients had their private medical records accessed during an NHS data breach. Reports suggest around 100 patients in NHS Lothian could have had their records accessed as a result of the incident. The health board said it discovered patients in the region may have had their information "inappropriately accessed" during routine monitoring.

Two public hospital doctors have been granted bail after being arrested in Hong Kong on suspicion of leaking a cancer patient's medical data to highlight alleged professional shortcomings by her operating surgeon. Observers, meanwhile, said that although the incident did not align with the principles of "whistle-blowing", it underscored the need for a stronger "speak-up" culture within the Hospital Authority. The 35-year-old associate consultant and the 57-year-old consultant from Tseung Kwan O Hospital were released on bail on Tuesday and are required to report to police in late September.

They may come to the emergency room, bringing in someone who's suffering a medical crisis while being detained. They may wait in the lobby, as agents did for two weeks at an L.A.-area hospital waiting for a woman to be discharged. Or they may even chase people inside, as federal agents did at a Southern California surgical center. The sight of these agents often armed and with covered faces makes many wary and may keep people from seeking care.

You really want to get people to care as quickly as possible, but some people could be very anxious about those results as well, Cherabie said.

NHS staff are increasingly concerned about patients filming their medical treatments for social media, risking confidentiality and compromising the dignity of healthcare environments.