The Ebola crisis has prompted federal regulators to issue special guidance offering reminders about how the HIPAA Privacy Rule governs the sharing of patient information in emergency situations.
The secure national exchange of patients' health information for use in treatment will make progress once "we simplify what we say when we're explaining privacy to people," says Lucia Savage, new chief privacy officer of ONC.
Legal experts are analyzing the potential national impact of a Connecticut Supreme Court ruling that plaintiffs can sue for negligence if a healthcare provider violates HIPAA regulations for protecting patient privacy.
Offering HIPAA compliance refresher training to hospital staff members is urgent, says privacy attorney Brad Rostolsky, because of the risks that could come with treating patients infected with Ebola.
Emerging Web-enabled health technologies, ranging from the upcoming Apple Watch to a Google "pill" that could potentially detect cancer in patients' bodies, pose troubling new privacy risks, says privacy advocate Deborah Peel, M.D.
Apple CEO Tim Cook traveled to China in the wake of allegations that hackers are targeting Chinese iCloud users. The Chinese government has denied any involvement in the attacks, which can bypass the latest iPhone's stronger encryption.
FBI Director James Comey says he wants Congress to update a 20-year-old law to give law enforcement authorities access to the encrypted data of suspected criminals.
Apps for wearable devices that are designed to track a user's pulse rate, blood-oxygen level or location may be leaking that data during transmission, Symantec security researcher Candid Wüeest warns in a Black Hat Europe briefing.
While the security of the HealthCare.gov website has improved, and the next open enrollment for Obamacare will go more smoothly, there's still plenty of work to be done, says Curt Kwak, former CIO of the Washington state health insurance exchange.
A federal advisory workgroup that makes privacy and security recommendations to the the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT has officially re-launched with a new name, new members and several new hot topics to tackle in the coming months.
Amsterdam is again playing host to the annual Black Hat Europe information security gathering, and presenters have promised to cover everything from privacy flaws in wearable computers to two-factor authentication system failures.
The Department of Health and Human Services has appointed Lucia Savage, an attorney at insurer United Healthcare, as the new chief privacy officer of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT.
Twitter is suing the federal government, seeking to pave the way to publish its transparency report that documents the government's requests for user information.
Some privacy experts are expressing concern about a report that social media giant Facebook is planning to enter the healthcare market with health apps and patient support communities. Find out the nature of their worries.
Preventing patient record "snooping" is an ongoing challenge for hospitals in their HIPAA compliance efforts. But with the intensifying attention on Ebola cases, hospitals need to up their game in protecting patient privacy.
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