While the Target, LinkedIn, and Home Depot data breaches have gathered significant media attention, major retail providers and businesses as we usually think of them aren’t the only ones with sensitive data. Just as alarming as the fact that these companies suffered data breaches is the fact that hospitals and other medical providers are also under attack from hackers. Even more terrifying than having your personal financial information in the hands of an unauthorized party is that they could have your medical records.
Many people consider their medical records far more personal and sensitive than their financial information, and for good reason – our private health information is intimately personal, and it should remain that way. Companies have a duty to safeguard your health information and should be held responsible for breaches in their data systems. Computer and data forensics can trace data breaches to determine how the breach occurred.
If your hospital, physician, or other medical provider has suffered a data breach, just like in the case of PII, PHI disclosures must be made to the party whose information was compromised, under the Louisiana Data Breach Notification Law, La. R.S. § 51:3071 et seq.
If you’ve received notice of a data breach from your physician, you might be entitled to recovery under the law. Contact me to protect your rights if you’ve received notification of a data breach involving your medical records from your physician or hospital.
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