The most important healthcare information security trend for the year ahead is the rush to implement electronic health records while taking advantage of all their security features, says Dixie Baker, a well-known security expert who's advising federal regulators on policy issues.
The federal list of major health information breaches has served as an eye-opener, making many healthcare organizations much more aware of their security risks.
Many physician group practices adopting their first electronic health records systems will have a lot of work to do when it comes to information security, a new survey confirms.
The innocent use for three years of a Yahoo calendar application exposed personally identifiable information of 878 patients at the Department of Veterans Affairs' Chicago Healthcare Systems, a violation of VA policy.
"Literally, in my entire time working in the privacy field, I've never seen such profound and aggressive activity by the government in the privacy space," privacy expert Thomas Oscherwitz says.
While the HITECH Act is jump-starting the shift from paper to electronic health records with its incentive payments, a presidential panel is envisioning a next generation of EHRs that embed privacy protections using XML.
The recent WikiLeaks release of thousands of sensitive government documents puts security leaders on notice: The breach threat is real, and no organization is immune.
Staff training, aggressive breach prevention efforts and strong sanctions for violating policies are key to creating a corporate culture that values privacy and security, says Alan Dowling, the new CEO of the American Health Information Management Association.
A federal advisory panel has endorsed the basic elements of what should be included in a new rule spelling out how to govern organizations using national standards for health information exchange.
Dixie Baker, a well-known healthcare information security expert who's advising federal regulators on policy issues, offers her predictions for the top trends for 2011.
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