Data breach at BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee and subsequent penalty stands an example of the financial fallout from poor healthcare IT security practices By Ericka Chickowski, Dark Reading Contributing Writer Enforcement actions from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) just reached a new level of reality last [...]
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), also known as the stimulus bill, contains the HITECH Act that amends the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which was enacted in 1996. “When HIPAA was first enacted, the health care industry was paper driven,” says Jeff Porter, a director with Kegler, Brown, Hill [...]
The Department of Health and Human Services should “immediately” issue an expanded contingency plan on the transition to the new Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Version 5010 electronic transaction standards, since many practices and state Medicaid agencies are not ready for the transition, the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) recommended Dec. 19. According [...]
There are plenty of reasons to put HIPAA back on your radar, including an audit program and record-setting fines for violations.
HIPAA Compliance: The objective behind Sensitivity in maintaining individual health record of every person is too significant and this is what gets ensured under HIPAA security compliance, which aims at protecting an individual’s information to be obtained, created, used and maintained electronically at a specific healthcare unit or hospital. As a result of this rule, [...]
Mid Dakota Clinic of Bismarck has opted out of a major initiative by Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota that involves sharing patient records with an outside consultant and cites patient privacy concerns as the reason. The program, MediQHome, is a “medical home” partnership between the health insurer and teams of medical providers aimed [...]
The 2011 annual convention of the American Health Information Management Association, Oct. 1-6 in Salt Lake City, features a series of in-depth post conference educational sessions on the 6th, including an eight-hour HIPAA Privacy and Security Boot Camp. The camp is designed for health information management directors, other professionals with little or no privacy experience [...]
Risk assessments are are critical part of regulatory compliance, but many organizations don’t implement them well. Risk assessments, as part of a risk management program, help ensure that the right controls are in place to secure data and comply with regulations.
Too many healthcare organizations have overlooked their obligation to comply with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, says security expert Tom Walsh. Compliance with PCI DSS, designed to help prevent credit card fraud and theft, can help healthcare organizations comply with the HIPAA security rule as well, Walsh stresses. That’s because PCI DSS offers far more security specifics than HIPAA, including, for [...]
Federal investment in health careis necessary to “transform health care to achieve optimal, cost-efficient health for everyone,” said the AAFP in recent written testimony (4-page PDF; About PDFs) to the House Appropriations Committee. That is why the Academy is urging the committee to make a robust investment in the nation’s primary care physician workforce by [...]
