Last year, the ACLU of Maine fought hard to make certain that Maine's statewide health information exchange (HealthInfoNet) took steps to protect patient privacy.

Why?  Today, the Utah Department of Health reported that personal medical records for 780,000 people were stolen in a breach of a computer server by identity thieves.  It's a good reminder that no centralized database will ever be completely secure and that patients should understand the vulnerabilities of  health information stored online.