E Commerce Times recently posted an article titled, “Why are Health Records so Valuable to Cybercriminals?” The article describes why cybercriminals like to target electronic health records (EHR) and explains how HIPAA does, and at times does not, protect EHRs. To check out the full article visit: http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/84417.html For daily HIPPA News visit our HIPAA News sidebar … [Read more…]
If you have not yet had the pleasure of checking out Doc Vadar, the time has arrived. Darth Vadar finished med school and has become Doc Vadar. He brings an array of HIPAA jokes in the form of “dark humor”. In this episode he discusses Jabba the Hutt’s obesity by “not violating HIPAA”, but merely “telling you a FACT”. … [Read more…]
According to Patient Engagement HIT, American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) recently posted data guiding patients through the appropriate process of obtaining their medical records from their providers and navigating through HIPPA privacy regulations. “Per HIPAA, patients may ask to view and obtain a copy of their health records, receive records in paper or electronic copies, … [Read more…]
HIPAA Journal’s healthcare data breach report summary article for January 2017 shows that once again healthcare data breaches are up year-over-year. January 2016 saw the lowest number of data breaches of any month in 2016 (21) and also the lowest number of records exposed of any month in the year (104,056 records). 2017 did not … [Read more…]
Regardless of whether protected health information (PHI) is stored electronically or in hard copy form, by law it must be secured. Since 2009, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has published more than 1700 reports of data breaches that impacted at least 500 individuals. According to the published … [Read more…]
Good write-up by Varonis discussing the finalized regulatory rules for HIPAA: What has changed With the finalized rules (which by the way run over 500 pages) not only do business associates come under HIPAA, but a new class of consultants and subcontractors who perform workon behalf of the business associates also have HIPAA obligations. In effect, the … [Read more…]
Excellent and detailed write-up of the new HIPAA rules that take effect on September 23, 2013: On January 17, 2013, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) issued the highly anticipated omnibus final rule (the “Final Rule”) to modify the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”) pursuant to the Health … [Read more…]
With 2013 right around the corner, you should be aware of the following 10 items for your checklist to make sure you’re ready for the Affordable Health Care Act. Effective in 2013: The following list itemizes the changes that generally will become effective in 2013. The effective date depends upon a number of factors, including whether … [Read more…]
Need a refresher of some of the differences that HITECH brought to the HIPAA landscape? Check out the videos below. Privacy & Security: The New HIPAA Rule HIPAA Privacy, Security, and the HITECH Act HITECH ACT – 2010 Changes in HIPAA Law HITECH Act and Encryption in 5 Minutes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPxN0s5TSrc Information Security Program and HIPAA … [Read more…]
Here are the top 5 highest rated HIPAA books on Amazon that are available in earth-friendly digital Kindle format. We thought it would be good to celebrate Earth Day by sharing these with you, and encouraging everyone who hasn’t gone paperless yet to consider doing so. Note that in most cases, buying the book in … [Read more…]