Category: Security

A new report reveals that in 2013, the number of protected health information (PHI) breaches were up 138 percent from 2012, with 199 incidents of breaches of PHI reported to HHS impacting over 7 million patient records. A new report reveals that in 2013, the number of protected health information (PHI) breaches were up 138…

More than 7 million patient records were breached last year, an increase of 138 percent from 2012, according to a report from IT security audit firm Redspin. The report analyzes breaches reported to… read more …read more    

As if data breaches weren’t already painful enough for hospital CIOs with the new HIPAA rules, now it appears that government regulation may not end with the Office for Civil Rights. read more …read more    

HHS strengthens patients’ right to access lab test reports HHS announces changes to both HIPAA and the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 that will result in patients being able to access their laboratory results directly from the lab, rather than from the doctor that ordered the tests. Can Healthcare IT (HIT) Deliver Value? (Part…

Patients will have the right under HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) to have direct access to lab test results, regardless of state laws or if the treating physician has counseled the patient. CIOs who are responsible for facilities in multiple states will no longer have to comply with different access laws for posting…

An amendment to the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 regulations announced today by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services boosts access to completed lab test results for patients and designated patient representatives. The final rule, to be officially published in the Federal Register Feb. 6, also eliminates an exception under HIPAA that…

Health IT executives aren’t exactly prepared to weather any storm–most don’t feel prepared for security breaches or unplanned outages, according to a new survey. read more …read more    

Pass codes, phone numbers, social security numbers, clothing sizes and addresses. We all have a lot of numbers in our heads, but heart experts at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center say there are five more you need to know to help keep your cardiovascular system healthy. …read more    

During a recent FierceHealthcare webinar, “Three things you must know about the new HIPAA rules,” Boston-based healthcare attorney David Harlow, a Boston-based health attorney and author of HealthBlawg, and Dena Boggan, HIPAA privacy and security officer at St. Dominic Hospital in Jackson, Miss., shared their experiences and expertise with attendees regarding internal policies, training staff…

California Attorney General Kamala Harris sued Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Inc. in state court on Jan. 23, alleging the company was too slow to notify more than 20,000 current and former employees that their personal information was compromised in a 2011 security breach. read more …read more