April 26, 2013
Street cameras played a major role in identifying the two brothers who allegedly bombed the Boston Marathon. In the wake of this helpful development, public support is growing for expanded use of cameras in high-congestion areas.
Providers and officers in charge of HIPAA compliance can take part in a valuable 90-minute webcast Tuesday, starting at 11 a.m. Eastern Time. The webinar will address the progression of changes to HIPAA, particularly leading up to the January issuance of a final rule pertaining to privacy, security and enforcement provisions. Attendees will learn about the results of compliance audits, recent findings on data breaches and assessed penalties, and trends in hacking activity.
The federal government is asking how changes for HIPAA rules might impact states reporting information about patients' mental health conditions, and whether they should be allowed to purchase a gun.
April 10, 2013
Long-term care facilities face a variety of safety and caregiver workflow challenges. Families struggle to ensure the independence of their loved ones in order to maintain that person's dignity. Busy staff must ensure safety given that acuity level varies by resident. By locating seniors in real-time using RFID technology, community directors can offer assistance while protecting resident privacy, mobility and independence.
March 01, 2013
Someone leaked sensitive patient information to the press after we had a recent fire here. What steps can/should we take to investigate or determine who the leak was?
February 01, 2013
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has pushed back enforcement of two electronic healthcare transaction rules by three months, the agency announced in January. That gives providers until March 31.
Healthcare providers do not violate the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act privacy regulations if they share patient information in the interest of public safety, according to a letter sent last week by Leon Rodriguez, the director of the Office for Civil Rights (OCR).
The Department of Health and Human Services issued an "omnibus" rule Thursday, comprehensively updating Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act privacy and security regulations passed as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
The Department of Health and Human Services has temporarily withdrawn a final rule requiring certain healthcare facilities to notify patients when there is a breach of the privacy of their "unsecured" health information.
An agreement to exempt healthcare providers from the federal "red flags" privacy rule could be forthcoming, according to a recent report from the Bureau of National Affairs.
Old people should live alone. At least, that was the general thinking back in the 1930s.
Mining Medicare's database for information comparing individual doctors' spending practices could help significantly reduce healthcare spending, according to a recent report.
August 24, 2009
The Department of Health and Human Services has released an interim rule regarding healthcare information privacy breaches.
The call for widespread adoption of electronic medical records has prompted some states to pass stringent privacy laws to protect their residents against fraud or identity theft. But a new analysis finds these laws seem to significantly diminish the effectiveness of the new technology.
