Smaller hospitals and clinics soon will get some extra guidance from federal regulators about preparing risk assessments. But a federal advisory group has urged the Department of Health and Human Services to offer far more guidance on a variety of information security issues.
The firing of a hospital staff member who inappropriately accessed former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno's records sends a strong signal about the importance of protecting patient privacy.
New York-Presbyterian Hospital has developed a breach response checklist that others should consider as they create their breach resolution game plans.
2011 has offered quite a number of tough lessons for security professionals. Here at (ISC)2, where security education is our focus, the close of another year raises the old teacher's question: "What have we learned, class?"
One key reason why encryption isn't more widely used in healthcare is that some information technology specialists have outdated perceptions about the technology, contends security expert Melodi Mosely Gates.
A new, free HIPAA Security Rule Toolkit is designed to help healthcare organizations conduct a thorough risk assessment, says Kevin Stine, who helped guide the project for the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
The emerging trend of class action lawsuits filed in the wake of major health information breach incidents offers one more incentive to boost breach prevention efforts.
Hospitals and physicians that qualify for Stage 1 of the HITECH Act electronic health record incentive program this year will have extra time to comply with Stage 2 requirements, which are expected to include tougher privacy and security guidelines.
Accountable Care Organizations that will be formed to coordinate treatment of some Medicare patients must make HIPAA compliance, including risk assessments, a top priority, says security expert Rebecca Herold.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology is offering a free online HIPAA Security Rule Toolkit, a self-assessment tool that's designed to help healthcare organizations and their business associates comply with the rule.
IEEE sees 2012 as a disruptive year of widespread mobile-device intrusions as a growing number of smartphones - now 20 percent of the market - make them an attractive target for hackers.
In addition to the negative publicity associated with being included on the federal tally of major health information breaches, some organizations are experiencing yet another impact of breaches: class action lawsuits.
The ongoing delay in the release of final versions of HIPAA modifications and the HIPAA breach notification rule makes it more difficult for healthcare organizations to set information security investment priorities, says hospital privacy officer Kari Myrold.
Ongoing HIPAA compliance training is key to breach prevention, says Terrell Herzig of UAB Medicine. Yet many healthcare organizations are lacking in their efforts, according to results from the Healthcare Information Security Today survey.
Results from HealthcareInfoSecurity's inaugural survey show regulatory compliance being the No. 1 information security priority for the coming year. What steps should organizations start taking before regulatory audits begin?
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