Md. boosts funding for hospital data-sharing
State health officials on Wednesday approved $2 million in additional funding for the entity that collects and analyzes hospital data.
State Archives official: No broken record-keeping here
The Maryland State Archives has corrected record-keeping problems that state auditors said put artifacts at risk of being lost or stolen, the archives’ deputy director said Tuesday.
Report: Background checks often use shoddy records
WASHINGTON — Thousands of U.S. job hunters are losing out because employers use faulty background-check data drawn from shoddy records, consumer advocates say in a new report. Those advocates want the government to make sure people know what information prospective employers see, so that errors can be corrected and abusive companies can be held responsible. […]
Man can’t sue U.S. agencies over records sharing
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the federal government cannot be sued for emotional distress after two agencies improperly shared a man’s medical records detailing his HIV status. “We hold that the Privacy Act does not unequivocally authorize an award of damages for mental or emotional distress,” said Justice Samuel Alito, who wrote […]
Payments made to spur electronic health records
ANNAPOLIS — Maryland has made its first payments to medical providers and hospitals through the federal Medicaid Electronic Health Records Incentive Program. Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown announced Thursday that more than $2 million has been sent to the first group of eligible providers. The program is funded with federal money through the American Recovery and […]
New-home sales fall, 2011 could be worst year yet
WASHINGTON — The number of Americans who bought new homes fell for the third straight month in July, putting sales on track to finish this year as the worst on records dating back half a century. Sales of new homes fell nearly 1 percent in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 298,000, the […]
Police department ‘personnel records’ excepted from MPIA
Records of an internal police investigation into the conduct of two officers are “personnel records” and thus cannot be released to a county inspector general reviewing whether a drunk-driving cover-up occurred, Maryland’s top court ruled Wednesday. With its 5-2 decision, the Court of Appeals denied Montgomery County’s inspector general access to documents held by the […]
Prison guard’s accused killer loses battle over mental-health records
The mental health treatment records of an inmate who is accused of killing a correctional officer must be turned over to a circuit court judge, the state’s highest court has said. Defense lawyers in the capital case against Lamar C. Harris say the records are privileged, but the Court of Appeals on Friday said the […]
Justices reinstate mental health lawsuit
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court says Virginia’s advocate for the mentally ill can sue to force state officials to provide records relating to deaths and injuries at state mental health facilities. The justices, in a 6-2 ruling Tuesday, reinstated the Virginia Office for Protection and Advocacy lawsuit against Virginia’s mental health commissioner and two other […]
Getaways: the 1860s
This weekend, Baltimore will commemorate 150 years since the Pratt Street Riot in 1861. Friday will kick off with a symposium by the Maryland Historical Society titled, “Land of the Free? The Fate of Civil Liberties in Baltimore in 1861.” It’s free to the public. Exhibitions at the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum and Sports […]
French rail firm must pay for digitization of Holocaust records
ANNAPOLIS — Maryland lawmakers and representatives of the French national railroad say they’ve reached a deal that would force a greater accounting of the railroad’s role in the Holocaust and allow its subsidiary to seek a lucrative MARC train contract. The compromise legislation targets SNCF, the French national railroad. From 1942 to 1944, some 76,000 […]
Young people with old souls prefer records to CDs
NEW YORK — In most ways, Sarah McCarthy is your average high schooler. She has a job, college plans, but also a peculiar passion for a 16-year-old: She’s a vinyl junkie. That’s right, analog. And none of that hipster new stuff or a USB-ready turntable from Urban Outfitters. To this senior from Centreville, Md., there’s […]