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Article: Hospitals protect data by erasing old hard drives: cost to destroy patient info can range from zero to thousands of dollars.(Patient privacy protected in hospitals)
- Article from:
- San Diego Business Journal
- Article date:
- March 27, 2006
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 CBJ, L.P. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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When hospitals get rid of outdated computers, it's not just a matter of tossing them into a trash bin in the alley.
Federal patient privacy laws, such as HIPAA, or the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, mean that hospitals must ensure that patient information is not leaked.
This year, Sharp HealthCare, which operates four hospitals here, will erase 2,000 hard drives using in-house labor and guidelines set forth by federal officials.
While most patient data at hospitals is stored on a central server, there is "definitely potential to download and save patient information onto hard drives," said Denise Amemiya, director ...