Tag Archives: hospitals

The good, bad and scary about hospitals from an insiders POV

Get Hip to HIPAA: Hackers Want Your Health Data

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I have a question for you. What do hackers want more—your Social Security number or your health information?

If you guessed Social Security, you’re wrong. Here’s another fact I learned by writing fiction. The answer is health data, and criminal hackers are busy stealing it every chance they get.

Despite this alarming trend, there is some protection in place for patient privacy. In 1996, the United States legislature passed the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act  known as HIPAA. This act provides for data privacy and security provisions for safeguarding medical information.

The passage of this act was meant to protect patients’ privacy, but it means nothing to a criminal hacker whose day job is stealing your health data. The law has emerged into greater prominence in recent years with the proliferation of health data breaches caused by cyberattacks and ransomware attacks on health insurers and providers.

Hackers can fetch only around $15 a pop on the web for a Social Security number, but a medical record with personal information attached can go for $60 or more. 

Criminals can use health data to create fake identities that allow them to buy and resell medical equipment or drugs, to file fake claims with insurers, or to file fake tax returns. Hackers will use stolen hospital records for extortion—the patient must pay to keep from having their records sold on the dark web.

One reason health data fetches more dollars is that medical identity theft can go undetected for years. The modern practice of electronically storing medical records rather than using paper charts has resulted in a bonanza for criminal hackers. They can sneak in with a few taps on a keyboard, grab the data, and sneak out without being detected.,

How is this possible? One explanation is that medical facilities and private practices tend to put patient care items first when considering expenditures. If the budget is tight, money is not spent to replace aging computer systems, hire IT consultants, and upgrade security infrastructure. These cost-cutting practices make hackers’ work remarkably easy.

Visit these sites for more complete information on this topic:

https://www.dhcs.ca.gov/formsandpubs/laws/hipaa/Pages/1.00WhatisHIPAA.aspx

https://www.healthit.gov/sites/default/files/YourHealthInformationYourRights_Infographic-Web.pdf\

https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-individuals/guidance-materials-for-consumers/index.html

The security of health data is a recurring theme in the hospital-based Aimee Machado Mystery series published by Camel Press, an imprint of Epicenter Press. Available in print and eBook formats from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and by request at your local bookstore. http://camelpress.com/

Music Makes Mystery Memorable

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As a very small child, I recall my mother playing “The Third Man Theme” on her accordion. It was a compelling tune that evoked vivid memories for her of the 1949 suspense film, The Third Man. If you’ve never seen it, I highly recommend that you add it to your film list. Visit the following link for more about The Third Man.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Third_Man

I suspect Mom’s fondness for the movie and the tune stemmed from her belief that Joseph Cotton, the handsome leading man, bore a remblance to my father.

The movie version of the “The Third Man Theme” was played on the zither. The YouTube version at the link below captures its essence and provides some still clips from the film, which the British Film Institute voted the greatest British film of all time. Listen for a bit and decide whether this theme might linger in your mind long after seeing the film.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2N5RXvzhrs

With this memory in mind, I began to think of the music I chose for my novels when writing the Aimee Machado Mysteries. As the series grew, each book lent itself to a different genre. So far, these have included country, blues, classical piano, and in Spine Damage, the most recently released book, fado. In the U.S., fado is likely the least known of these musical genres, but in the Azores Islands and in Portugal, it is part of the fabric of the country. Fado became my choice of music genre for Spine Damage, because the story spans the globe from rural Northern California to the Azores Islands of Faial and Pico in the nine-island Atlantic archipelago.

In this fourth book in the series, the solution to the mystery is advanced by the discovery of links between Ana Moura, a real-life Portuguese female vocalist who is possibly the most famous fado singer in the world, and two iconic American musicians: Prince and Mick Jagger. The links between these musical artists are real and easily researched.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42p0_L_ycFk

Here is a sample of Moura’s artistry:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ia1ECfWJCM

Visit these links for more about Ana Moura and fado music.

https://www.newyorklatinculture.com/ana-moura-fado-town-hall

https://www.visitportugal.com/en/node/73868

Books in the hospital-based Aimee Machado Mysteries are published by Camel Press (an imprint of Epicenter Press) and are available for purchase in print and eBook format from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, and from your local bookstore.

Camel Press

Want to Get Away with It? Commit Your Crime in International Waters

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Welcome to another fact I’ve learned by writing fiction.

This concerns what happens when a beautiful fifteen-year-old girl disappears after attending a yacht  party in the Portuguese Azores Islands. In Spine Damage, book four of the Aimee Machado Mystery series, family connections motivate Aimee to find the missing Azorean girl, but research into crime on the high seas reveals a stark reality. When crimes are committed in international waters, the victims often have no recourse.

A few years ago, Somalian pirates were making international headlines that resulted in Tom Hanks being cast to portray the captain of the hijacked Maersk Alabama—the case on which the movie Captain Phillips was based.

But piracy is just one example of crimes on the high seas. The list is long, and the highly diverse range of criminal activities are often underreported. It includes theft, rape and murder aboard cruise lines and private sailing vessels; drug smuggling and human trafficking; and illegal poaching of marine wildlife. And even today, unsuspecting citizens of poor countries are being shanghaied onto vessels where they’re forced to work under brutal conditions. Those who complain are likely to disappear.

What legal safeguards are in place to protect victims against these crimes?

www.britannica.com states in part:

“. . . maritime countries essentially control their territorial waters from the shore out to a distance of 12 miles . . . Within this zone, all laws of that country apply. With respect to international crimes [beyond the 12-mile limit] . . . any country or international organization can theoretically claim authority over the matter using the concept of universal jurisdiction . . . and try the assailants in their own national (or international) courts. Since the laws of individual countries and international courts are not recognized by all countries, however, there is often no fully accepted referee. Government officials in one country might choose not to recognize the legal authority of another.”

Back to our story . . .

Aimee is distressed by what she learns about crime in international waters, so she and her gang of crime-solvers travel from Timbergate, California to the mid-Atlantic Azores Islands and back seeking clues. Meanwhile, the missing teen’s fate remains unknown. Relentless pursuit of the truth finally uncovers the crime, but is it too little, too late?

For more information on crime in international waters, visit these sites:

https://www.britannica.com/story/are-there-laws-on-the-high-seas

http://mentalfloss.com/article/51708/are-high-seas-criminal-paradise

https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2015/07/23/sailing-beyond-the-rule-of-law/fight-high-seas-crime-with-accountability-and-commitment-to-prosecute

https://crimereads.com/crime-on-the-high-seas/

Visit www.sharonstgeorge.com again soon for another fact I’ve learned while writing fiction. 

Books in the hospital-based Aimee Machado Mysteries are published by Camel Press (an imprint of Epicenter Press) and are available for purchase in print and eBook format from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, and from your local bookstore.

http://camelpress.com

RELEASE DUE FEBRUARY 2019

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BOOK FIVE IN THE AIMEE MACHADO MYSTERY SERIES

A young doctor, new to the medical staff of Timbergate Medical Center and eager to make a name for himself, is appointed chairman of Timbergate Medical Center’s Ethics Committee. He comes to Aimee with an urgent request: call the committee together for an emergency meeting. He refuses to state his agenda topic, insisting it’s too sensitive to reveal outside the legal protection of a medical staff committee.

Late that night, the doctor suffers a catastrophic fall down an unlit hospital stairwell, leaving him unable to communicate. The timing troubles Aimee, who suspects foul play as clues from multiple sources begin to add up. When she discovers an outrageous black market scheme that spans the U.S. and beyond, her quest to save innocent lives puts her in mortal danger.

Visit again for further information on pre-ordering this new adventure in the Aimee Machado Mystery Series published by Camel Press. www.camelpress.com

Medical Interpreters – Saving Lives

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Facts I’ve Learned by Writing Fiction

This post is a result of my research for SPINE DAMAGE, book four in my Aimee Machado Mystery series featuring a hospital librarian with a specialty in forensics. 

Ever wonder what happens when a critically ill or injured patient with no knowledge of the English language arrives in an American hospital’s Emergency Department?

 

In Spine Damage, book four of the Aimee Machado Mystery series, that’s just what occurs at fictional Timbergate Medical Center in Northern California. The incident involves a young Portuguese-speaking man with a potentially fatal gunshot wound to his spine. It also results in a new mystery involving Aimee Machado, our hospital librarian.

The critically injured patient cannot tell his story to his doctors or to the police without the help of an interpreter. Aimee finds help for this fictional patient, but what would happen in real life?

Raise your hand if you speak English, and Portuguese, and if you’re also fluent in medical terminology in both languages. No one? The specialty of Certified Medical Interpreter (CMI) is currently experiencing a 29% growth rate, so if you like languages and you’re seeking a career path, it’s worth a look.

Before we go further, let’s clear up the difference between interpreters and translators. Both require a knowledge of more than one language, and both require skilled specialists, but for different reasons. The most obvious difference is the medium: translators interpret written text; interpreters translate orally.

Authorities in the field agree that expert knowledge of subject matter is equally as important as interpreting experience. When a medical interpreter is involved, the accurate oral exchange of information between health care provider and patient can be crucial. A qualified medical interpreter must have an extensive vocabulary, including medical terminology and an ability to express thoughts concisely in both languages. Beyond that, the interpreter must be familiar with both cultures.

Although the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) does not require that hospitals use certified interpreters, it has clarified the standards for qualified and competent interpreters. Qualifications and competencies can be met in a variety of ways (not simply through certification). Those include:

– Knowledge of medical terminology
– Language Proficiency Testing
– Training in interpretation best practices
– Interpreting experience in a healthcare setting

There are documented cases of patients being saved, or lost, because of the quality of medical interpretation. Who knew that second language we were required to learn in school could someday lead us into a profession that would offer the opportunity to save lives?

For more information on medical interpreters, visit one or more of the following sites:

http://www.certifiedmedicalinterpreters.org/

http://www.imiaweb.org/

https://www.aafp.org/afp/2014/1001/p476.html

http://blog.cyracom.com/joint-commission-standards-healthcare-interpretation

Visit www.sharonstgeorge.com again soon for another  fact I’ve learned while writing SPINE DAMAGE, book 4 in this series.

Books in the hospital-based Aimee Machado Mysteries are published by Camel Press (an imprint of Epicenter Press) and are available for purchase in print and eBook format from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, and from your local bookstore.
http://camelpress.com