Privacy and Security

As more providers are using digital data, privacy and security issues have become a greater concern. Protecting confidential patient information is also a priority for IT vendors, who are interested in offering solutions that come equipped with heightened security features. The industry-wide transition to HIPAA 5010 code set comes with heightened emphasis on privacy of patient data content in provider transactions, since 5010 aims to ensure that only the "minimum necessary" personal health information required for business purposes is included in a transaction.

RELATED STORIES:
Privacy hindering EHR progress, say researchers
HHS proposes new privacy, security rules

 
5 novel uses for RTLS technology
May 15, 2012 | Michelle McNickle
Recent reports have touted the benefits that real-time locating system (RTLS) technology can have for a company's bottom line. An even better ROI can be had with a little creativity, says Merrie Wallace, executive vice president of product solutions at Awarepoint.
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7 common myths about data encryption
May 14, 2012 | Michelle McNickle
Although data encryption is becoming a valuable option to protect against breached PHI, certain myths and misconceptions about it still exists, according to a new report by WinMagic Data Security. The report outlines and debunks seven common myths about data encryption.
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SaaS EMRs gaining favor, says KLAS
May 14, 2012 | Mike Miliard
More and more providers are taking software-as-a-service EMRs seriously, according to a new KLAS report. They're intrigued by the systems' lower price and easy maintenance, and reassured by advances in the security of cloud-based data storage.
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ONC taps public for help on nationwide exchange
May 14, 2012 | Mary Mosquera
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology is calling for public comment on proposals for rules of the road to govern the nationwide health information network (NwHIN).
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Maine practice celebrates its meaningful use status
May 11, 2012 | Bernie Monegain
Coastal Women's Healthcare, a seven-physician practice located in a town of nearly 20,000 residents along the Southern Maine coast, is among a group of elite meaningful users of electronic health records nationwide.
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Chilmark report sees HIEs moving into 'post-EHR era'
May 10, 2012 | Mike Miliard
While some $560 million in federal health information exchange funding may soon run dry, changing reimbursement models mean market-driven growth will continue, says a new report on HIEs from Chilmark Research.
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New ONC dashboard tracks nationwide HITECH progress
May 9, 2012 | Mike Miliard
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) has launched its new Health IT Dashboard, offering an interactive trove of data related to grants programs, regional extension centers and other measures of health IT adoption.
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ONC privacy and security guide offers 10 steps for MU
May 9, 2012 | Mike Miliard
ONC's Office of the Chief Privacy Officer (OCPO) has published a "Guide to Privacy and Security of Health Information," which aims to help physicians, nurses and IT staff better understand how the safety of patient data is essential to meaningful use of electronic health records and mobile devices.
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California REC signs up more than 7,700 in EHR program
May 9, 2012 | Bernie Monegain
In a little more than two years, the California Information Partnership and Services Organization (CalHIPSO), has developed the infrastructure needed to help thousands of providers throughout California implement electronic health records.
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HHS gives innovation awards to 26 organizations
May 8, 2012 | Bernie Monegain
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced Tuesday the first batch of organizations receiving Health Care Innovation awards. A total of $122.6 million will support 26 projects -- many underpinned by health IT, and all aimed at improving care, saving money and improving the healthcare workforce.
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10 things to consider before purchasing cyber insurance
May 7, 2012 | Michelle McNickle
Data breaches have increased dramatically in the past few years, giving way to new trends within the healthcare space. According to a recent report by ID Experts, one aspect of an overall risk management strategy is becoming increasingly worth exploring: cyber insurance.
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IHI puts the spotlight on innovators pursuing better care
May 7, 2012 | Bernie Monegain
Hospitals, physician practices and health plans across the country are boosting care -- and saving millions -- by employing quality measures, information technology and plenty of innovation. A new book tells the stories behind the successes.
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Case Study: Sentara Healthcare Completes an Award-Winning EHR with Enterprise Content Management
April 29, 2011 | On Demand Webinars
Providers today recognize that even the most powerful EMRs can't handle the content that exists outside of the patient record. Unstructured, ancillary documents and content related to patient care – paper, forms, faxes, graphics, photos and other clinical images – is often disconnected from electronic records. For Sentara Healthcare, access to accurate, timely and complete patient information is instrumental to increasing quality and service of care, and <a href="/directory/enterprise-content-management" target="_blank" class="directory-item-link">enterprise content management</a> (ECM) is a vital part of that enterprise <a href="/directory/electronic-health-record-ehr" target="_blank" class="directory-item-link">EHR</a> strategy.
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Securing Mobile Devices in the Business Environment
May 7, 2012 | White Papers
As employees bring their mobile devices to the workplace, while it may increase productivity and reduce cost, it also causes security weaknesses. IBM has authored a white paper, "Securing Mobile Devices in the Business Environment." Download this paper to learn more about mobile security device threats and how to establish a mobile security strategy.
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The Key Findings of the 2012 HIMSS Analytics Report: Security of Patient Data
May 4, 2012 | On Demand Webinars
On May 2, experts from Kroll Advisory Solutions and <a href="/directory/healthcare-information-and-management-systems-society-himss" target="_blank" class="directory-item-link">HIMSS</a> Analytics analyzed the key findings of the 2012 HIMSS Analytics Report: Security of Patient Data, which suggests that 16 years after the enactment of the HIPAA – the first of many regulations governing data security in the healthcare industry – increased compliance has not resulted in increased security. In fact, healthcare data breaches have risen steadily, despite stringent regulatory activity and heightened compliance.
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May 10th @ 1PM ET--Care Delivery Applications: Improving Nurse Productivity & Communications
April 24, 2012 | Upcoming Webinars
Hear from leaders at Parkview Health System and Avaya on how you can leverage mobile devices to improve communications and patient care, while increasing nurse productivity. Leverage the learnings from Parkview as they launched new tools to have the technology find the expert versus having the staff search for the right resources. Consider how mobile technology can allow clinicians to communicate from where ever they are and to share EHR clinical information quickly, easily and securely.
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Executing Best Practices for EMR Implementation
April 18, 2012 | White Papers
About 39% of medical offices in the U.S. have adopted <a href="/directory/electronic-medical-record-emr" target="_blank" class="directory-item-link">EMR</a> technology, according to SK&A. With Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments now available to physician practices and hospitals who make <a href="/directory/meaningful-use" target="_blank" class="directory-item-link">Meaningful Use</a> of such technology, that number is expected to rise over the next several years. But what about the practices who have not yet embarked on the journey toward EMR implementation? What’s holding them back? And where should they turn for help in managing the transition from paper-based records to electronic systems? Download this white paper to learn more about EMR implementation best practices.
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Improving Community Connectivity, Care Coordination and Outcomes
April 16, 2012 | On Demand Webinars
Learn more about what is being accomplished in communities that are coordinating healthcare. Jason Colquitt, director of research services from Greenway Medical Technologies, will share insights on how community connectivity is helping provide clearer analytics, improved clinical and financial outcomes and improving the health and quality of life of individuals and the community at large. Rebecca Little, director of operations at Genesis OB/GYN, Tucson, AZ, will share how her practice directly connects to hospitals in her community to share patient data, and how this connectivity is helping increase care coordination.
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Embrace Healthcare Change Safely: Practical Strategies for Security Risk Management
April 4, 2012 | On Demand Webinars
Healthcare is in the midst of a perfect storm of change with a combination of healthcare, consumer and IT/security trends driving both compelling benefits to improve patient care and reduce cost, while also bringing significant privacy and security risk. These challenges are compounded by limited budget, security incidents like breaches, and increasing regulation and breach notification rules. Learn how to use practical risk management in a proactive, preventative approach to embrace and benefit from these changes safely.
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Overcoming Interoperability Challenges in HIE Communities
April 2, 2012 | On Demand Webinars
Register now for this complimentary webinar. Learn how HITE-CT will increase adoption and <a href="/directory/meaningful-use" target="_blank" class="directory-item-link">meaningful use</a> of <a href="/directory/electronic-health-record-ehr" target="_blank" class="directory-item-link">electronic health records</a> through their <a href="/directory/health-information-exchange-hie" target="_blank" class="directory-item-link">HIE</a> community by enabling connectivity, and assuring the privacy and security of electronic health information. Attend this webinar and receive the “5 Steps to Creating an HIE” white paper.
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Disruptive Innovation: The Key to Empowering Patients, Transforming the Healthcare System
March 29, 2012 | White Papers
The United States is undergoing a major transformation of its healthcare delivery system, driven by federal health IT investments and healthcare reforms. This content piece features information from a joint presentation at the HIMSS12 Annual Conference & Exhibition in Las Vegas in February, where Eric Dishman, General Manager of Health Strategy and Solutions at Intel Corporation, and Jason Hwang, MD, executive director of healthcare at the Innosight Institute, presented on the power of “disruptive innovation” to meet the challenges of transforming the U.S. health sector. Download this paper to read examples of how disruption health IT innovation is driving new care models across the globe.
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BryanLGH Health System Springs Ahead with Single Sign-On & Context Management
March 26, 2012 | On Demand Webinars
Learn how BryanLGH Health System (BryanLGH), a not-for-profit, locally owned healthcare organization with two acute-care facilities and several outpatient clinics in Lincoln, Nebraska, has upgraded its implementation of Microsoft Vergence® and reinvigorated the organization around single sign-on (SSO), context management and strong authentication.
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The Case for Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) in Proactive Network Defense
March 22, 2012 | White Papers
It’s widely accepted that Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) systems are excellent tools for regulatory compliance, log management and analysis, trouble-shooting and forensic analysis. What’s surprising to many is that this technology can play a significant role in actively defending your network. This whitepaper explains precisely how real-time analysis, combined with in-memory correlation, and automated notification and remediation capabilities can provide you with unprecedented network visibility, security and control.
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Redefining Value and Success in Healthcare: Charting the Path to the Future
March 13, 2012 | On Demand Webinars
Across the healthcare industry, we are seeing forward-thinking organizations develop new competencies in anticipation of the opportunity that comes with industry-wide transformation. They are positioning themselves for success. And they are defining the future of healthcare. Will your organization be ready? Register to learn more and listen to the session now!
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Don't Let Them Destroy Patient Protections in Health IT!
May 2, 2012 | Christine Bechtel
There’s a fight going on about the adoption of health information technology in our country. This fight isn’t necessary and it shouldn’t be happening, but it is happening nonetheless – and patients have a lot at stake.
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NLRB Report on Social Media Cases
May 2, 2012 | Christina Thielst
The Acting General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board released a second report on outcome investigations involving social media that were submitted by regional offices and it underscores two main points.
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Twitter recap: Todd Park talks Big Data Week
April 25, 2012 | Kelly Mehler
Todd Park (@todd_park), United States chief technology officer for the Obama Administration, engaged in a live Twitter chat as part of Big Data Week, a string of community-led events relating to big data. Here is a Twitter recap of the Q&A.
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Managing Distributed Authentication
April 24, 2012 | John Halamka
As the nation begins its pilots of pioneer Accountable Care Organizations and shares more data for care coordination and population management, IT departments will be asked to make clinical records available to increasing numbers of loosely affiliated clinicians and staff.
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Cool Technology of the Week: HIPAA-Compliant Public Cloud
April 13, 2012 | John Halamka
Healthcare organizations have avoided the use of "public cloud" because of HIPAA/HITECH privacy concerns, lack of breach indemnification/data integrity guarantees, and the unwillingness of many cloud providers to sign business associate agreements.
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Let's Talk About ME 1.0 (and a New Way of Delivering Healthcare)
April 10, 2012 | Jennifer Dennard
I was able to talk with Gary Thompson co-founder and CEO of CLOUD Inc. - also known as the Consortium for Local Ownership and Use of Data, Inc.
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Cloud and healthcare IT
April 6, 2012 | Geoff Webb
While many industries are reliant on information technology to deliver services and drive innovation, none is so deeply entwined in IT than healthcare. As such, it should be no surprise that the potential impact of cloud computing is being felt, with mixed feelings, most acutely in this industry.
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What I learned at HIMSS about developments in health IT for the rest of 2012
March 27, 2012 | Shahid Shah
Like many of you, I made the annual pilgrimage to the HIMSS Conference last month but I didn’t write much publicly about it. Here’s what I learned while I was in Vegas and my takeaways for the rest of the year.
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Employee Makes Fun of Patient on Facebook
January 5, 2012 | Christina Thielst
When will our employees learn not to identify patients on Facebook or any other social media site?
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HIPAA 5010: Are You Ready for the New Transaction Standard?
December 13, 2011 | Debbi Meisner
Can you hear that clock ticking down to Jan. 1, 2012? If you are among the few in healthcare who are really on the ball, becoming compliant with new ASC-X12 5010 transaction standards ahead of the deadline, then congratulations!
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HIMSS Leaders & Innovators excites C-suite execs 
November 22, 2011 | Mike Miliard
This past week I had the pleasure of traveling, along with MedTech Media Editorial Director Rich Pizzi, to Amelia Island, Fla. for the inaugural HIMSS Leaders & Innovators conference.
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On HIPAA and Social Media in Healthcare
November 17, 2011 | David Harlow
I was interviewed for an article on AIS Health that came out last week. The title of this article -- on health care social media and regulatory and legal issues that health care providers may face in using these tools -- struck me as being tinged with hysteria.
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Ponemon Institute survey on cloud data security exposes gulf between IT security and compliance officers
November 1, 2011 | Prasad Dindigal
Vormetric, Inc., the leader in enterprise systems encryption and key management, today announced the results from an independent research report conducted by the Ponemon Institute on how organizations manage data security risks in cloud computing environments. The survey of 1,000 IT security practitioners and enterprise compliance officers revealed that less than half of all respondents believe their organizations have adequate technologies to secure their cloud infrastructures. Meanwhile, the two groups sharply disagreed on whether the cloud is as secure as on-premise datacenters, who is responsible for cloud data security, and what security measures should be used.
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Florida HIE live with direct messaging
August 31, 2011 | Industry News Release
Harris Corporation, an international communications and information technology company, in partnership with the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA), has launched a secure email service that enables health care providers to exchange health information electronically with other providers.
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St. Jude Medical Center Helps Ease the Trauma of Premature Birth
July 7, 2011 | Industry News Release
When a baby requires care in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), it is a stressful time for the entire family. St. Jude Medical Center, part of the St. Joseph Health System, has made it a little easier. For parents with babies in the St. Jude NICU, no matter where they are, no matter if it is 2 a.m. or 2 p.m.-their infant is now as close as a computer or mobile device.
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Health centers play key role in Indiana HIE's quality program
June 21, 2011 | Industry News Release
Seven community health centers and federally qualified health centers in central Indiana are now part of the Indiana Health Information Exchange's (IHIE) quality initiative, called the Quality Health First Program. Open Door Health Services, based in Muncie, is the latest participant the program.
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Verizon boosts security offerings
June 2, 2011 | Industry News Release
To help health care organizations and their business partners address evolving federal requirements for health data security and privacy, Verizon is enhancing two of its security programs.
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ONC's Doug Fridsma joins HL7 board
May 31, 2011 | Industry News Release
Health Level Seven® International (HL7), the global authority for interoperability and standards in healthcare information technology with members in 55 countries, today announced the appointment of Doug Fridsma, MD, PhD, director of the Office of Interoperability and Standards, Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), to the HL7 Board of Directors.
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Michigan hospital taps CareTech for IT monitoring
May 31, 2011 | Industry News Release
CareTech Solutions, an information technology and Web products and services provider for more than 180 U.S. hospitals and health systems, announced today that St. Luke's Hospital & Health Network (SLHHN) in Bethlehem, PA. selected the company to provide remote 24/7/365 IT infrastructure monitoring from CareTech's Healthcare Infrastructure Operations Center (HIOC), a technology hub for the storing and monitoring of data, systems and applications located in Troy, Mich.
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HITRUST Addresses Risk Assessment Issues for Small Healthcare Organizations
May 26, 2011 | Industry News Release
The Health Information Trust Alliance (HITRUST) announced today a new component of the CSF Assurance program targeted at healthcare organizations with annual revenue less than $25 million. The new security assessment approach addresses the wide-scale inaccuracies found in assessments conducted by smaller organizations and extends the reach and value of the CSF Assurance program, the most widely used approach for documenting risk assessment information in the healthcare industry. The HITRUST CSF Assessment for Small Organizations is a practical and effective solution for organizations wanting to perform accurate assessments of their information security environment and address the requirements of meaningful use.
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Brooklyn practice achieves MU Stage 1
May 25, 2011 | Industry News Release
Sage Healthcare Division, a unit of Sage North America, announced today that its client, Dr. Moore & Associates, a primary care practice in Brooklyn, NY, is among several of the company's clients to successfully attest to Stage 1 meaningful use under the Medicare EHR Incentive Program.
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VA puts ‘point-of-care research’ to the test
May 9, 2011 | Industry News Release
A team from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Stanford University is exploring a new approach to clinical trials that experts say will cost less and be easier to translate into practice.
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Missouri health system to roll out new EHR
May 6, 2011 | Industry News Release
Hannibal Regional Healthcare System, which operates a not-for-profit community hospital in northeast Missouri, has selected the Sunrise Enterprise suite of solutions from Allscripts.
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NEW AMA-MGMA ONLINE DIRECTORY HELPS PHYSICIANS SELECT PRACTICE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM SOFTWARE
April 28, 2011 | Industry News Release
Selecting the correct software to use in a medical practice is critical for physicians, particularly now that all technology-based practices must be compliant with the government's updated standard for electronic claims transactions. The new standard, known as HIPAA Version 5010, will be required by January 1, 2012. The American Medical Association (AMA) and the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) have made the software selection process easier by developing an online directory of software vendors that helps physicians determine whether the vendors’ practice management systems are compliant with the 5010 standard. A companion piece to the recently released Selecting a Practice Management System toolkit, the Practice Management System Software Directory provides detailed vendor profiles, enabling physicians to easily choose the software that best fits their needs.
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