Healthcare

The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) recently asked 100 CIOs about their perspectives on communications in healthcare, from business goals to technology changes to security. The survey revealed that strengthening data security is the top goal of 81% of healthcare organizations, ahead of increasing patient satisfaction (70%) and physician satisfaction (65%). Healthcare breaches up 30% in 2016 Given the continued rise in data breaches affecting the healthcare...

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) have jointly released a guide on the importance of complying with both HIPAA and the FTC Act. The guide reminds healthcare organizations to comply with both regulations as investigations or fines for non-compliance are assessed independently by each agency. The document re-asserts the FTC’s authority over HIPAA-covered entities. It is yet another instance where the FTC is...

St. Joseph Home Care Network offers specialized services for in-home care delivered by multidisciplinary caregivers in home health, hospice, private duty and infusion pharmacy. With over 500 employees, St. Joseph’s was an early adopter of electronic medical records (EMR), accessing and inputting data to patient files on tablet devices while in the field. With these tablets carrying sensitive patient data, HIPAA compliance was a major concern. Absolute DDS has made...

There are strong indications that the price tag associated with healthcare data breaches is about to go up significantly. While 90% of healthcare organizations have experienced a data breach in the past two years, there's been a dramatic shift in litigation.

What is the goal when a breach report is investigated by the Office for Civil Rights? Jocelyn Samuels, Director of the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR), has said that the intent is not limited to identifying the cause of the breach.