Update 7/27/07: This post has been up long enough to make its point, so we’re shortening all of the last names to initials.
Update 2/27/07: A little bird tells us there’s a full-fledged witch hunt going on inside KP HealthConnect in response to this post. It’s being reported that Vijaya Rogers has been running around [...]

[kaiserthrive.org editor's note: Kaiser's statement expressing its regrets and that it "believes notifying our members of the possible breach...is the right thing to do," almost makes you believe it is finally learning something from public criticism of its 'deny everything' approach to handling complaints. Almost, because notification is actually required by law. Still, [...]

Two new member privacy breaches have been reported in the last week. Is anyone else finding Kaiser’s typical canned response that it takes “protecting the privacy and security of our members’ personal medical information seriously” a little difficult to believe, much like its empty advertising claims?
From Wired News:

Kaiser Joins Lost Laptop Crowd — Kaiser [...]

From the AP, via the Insurance Journal:
Up to 700 Women in West Not Told about Placenta Registry
As many as 700 women along the West Coast were not told that an institute financed by the insurance industry kept their placentas after giving birth in order to protect doctors and hospitals from potential lawsuits, according to a [...]

Kaiser warns of ID thefts from Harbor City facility
Redondo Beach police arrest two contract employees after hospital records were used to obtain credit cards.
By Larry Altman
Daily Breeze
Kaiser Permanente South Bay Medical Center has sent letters to 25,000 members warning that two contract employees stole personal information from patients’ records and ran up thousands of dollars [...]

[editor: On June 20, 2005 the California Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC) issued the following press release announcing the outcome of its investigation into Kaiser Permanente's unlawful disclosure of confidential patient information on the Internet. Kaiser has clearly been caught, yet is still pursuing its baseless lawsuit against whistleblower Elisa Cooper. The DMHC [...]

If you believe you are the victim of Kaiser’s negligence and lack of security of your personal information, please contact the California Consumer Health Care Council — (888) CAL-COUNCIL — or email Mr. John Metz.

On Friday March 11, 2005 Barbara Feder Ostrov of the San Jose Mercury News reported that “Kaiser Permanente is notifying 140 patients that a disgruntled former employee posted confidential information about them on her Weblog.”
What Kaiser isn’t telling these patients, or the media, is that the former employee they are accusing of posting this confidential [...]