Erin McCann

The 33-hospital Mercy health system in St. Louis has inked its first deal to market its customized Epic electronic health record system. The Gastonia, N.C.-based CaroMont Health signed the contract with Mercy in efforts to consolidate its myriad platforms, officials announced Thursday.

Jocelyn Samuels will come to the Office for Civil Rights from the Department of Justice, where she was acting assistant attorney general.

The Office for Civil Rights, the HHS division responsible for enforcing HIPAA, is slated to get a new director after the official departure of Leon Rodriguez.

Joanne Sunquist knows Epic. As the chief information officer at the four-hospital HealthEast Care System in Minnesota, she's successfully spearheaded the new $135 million Epic electronic medical record implementation within an aggressive 14-month timeline across the hospitals, which went live June 1. The health system's 14 clinics will follow suit by December.

Working on the patient portal portion of Stage 2 meaningful use? Officials at Mayo Clinic can offer some valuable insight into their own portal rollout -- challenges that have arisen, privacy concerns and how to do it right.

In one of the largest HIPAA breaches ever reported, the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services is notifying some 1.3 million people after hackers gained unfettered access to an agency server for nearly a year before being discovered.

As myriad healthcare organizations have attested, the aftermath of a HIPAA violation generally isn't a pretty sight, especially when it comes to one's bank account. One Indiana-based health system has witnessed this reality after being slapped with an $800,000 settlement for violating the HIPAA Privacy Rule.

Data attacks on healthcare organizations have increased a whopping 100 percent from just four years ago, a reality that has chief security and information officers in a dash to stay ahead of the data protection curve.

Some 90 percent of healthcare organizations have reported at least one data breach in the past two years, with more than a third seeing more than five breaches. Gerry Hinkley, partner at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman's healthcare practice, says breach response is where many make major missteps, mistakes that can easily be avoided.

Paul Kleeberg discusses CCHIT and his agenda for his upcoming term as incoming chairman for HIMSS.