Physician group practices, many of which are adopting their first electronic health record system, need to make staff training on privacy and security issues a top priority, says Susan Turney, M.D., the new CEO at the Medical Group Management Association.
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.
None of the agencies surveyed by GAO could precisely enumerate the number of IT security personnel they employed. In fact, estimates within agencies varied widely, based on who was reporting and analyzing employment data.
Data breaches are all about reputational risk, says attorney Lisa Sotto. And as legal requirements grow, attorneys must play increasingly integral roles in helping clients respond to incidents.
Dan Waddell of Tantus Technologies says giving back to the community is every information security professional's responsibility. And with the insurgence of cybercrime affecting all walks of life, now is the ideal time to get started.
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.
Facebook promises to give consumers clear and prominent notice and obtaining express consent before their information is shared beyond the privacy settings they have established.
Information security threats - especially to critical infrastructures and from nation-states - are evolving. But security education curricula are struggling to keep pace, according to Eugene Spafford, renowned information security professor at Purdue University.
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.
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