Privacy & Security
This past May, EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson delivered a speech on the subject electronic waste (e-waste), which she called one of the most pressing global environmental priorities for the U.S. Too often, she said, America's e-waste "ends up illegally overseas in developing countries - India, Africa - where labor is cheaper...and workers are often less safe," she said.
Bonnie Cassidy, vice president of HIM product management at Reston, Va.-based QuadraMed and the president-elect of the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA), sat down with Healthcare IT News at AHIMA's 82nd annual convention and exhibit to talk about the importance of the health information management profession, and her vision for the future.
Privacy concerns remain the key obstacle in the widespread adoption of electronic health records in the U.S., according to researchers from the North Carolina State University.
The Electronic Healthcare Network Accreditation Commission (EHNAC), a nonprofit standards development organization and accrediting body, launched its Management Service Organization Accreditation Program (MSOAP) on Tuesday.
South Shore Hospital in Weymouth, Mass., which reported in July that back-up patient data for approximately 800,000 individuals went missing, has completed its investigation. In light of the findings, officials said they would no longer send out individual notices, instead publishing them on organizations' websites, and in offices and in state newspapers.
A new federal health IT advisory panel is at work on setting up a means of governing the nationwide health information network (NHIN) in a way that will earn the trust of healthcare providers and consumers and expand its use by the healthcare community.
In an effort to help financial institutions understand how the HITECH Act and HIPAA directly affects their operations, four industry trade groups recently banded together to release a white paper "Compliance Guidelines for Financial Institutions in the Healthcare Sector: HITECH and the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules."
The Department of Health and Human Services withdrew its final breach notification rule for unsecured protected health information. Withdrawal of the rule came in late July, just days before the Rite Aid Corp. agreed to pay $1 million to settle potential violations of federal privacy rules.
As details about the back-up files that went missing from a Massachusetts hospital emerge, it's apparent that even with HHS' new proposed rules on security and privacy set to take effect soon, hospitals may still have to do more when it comes to protecting patient data.
Preventing patient data breaches is cited as the number one priority for healthcare IT decision makers, but work remains for complying with security regulations, according to a national survey that examines IT trends in healthcare.