Interoperability
In one of the largest HIPAA breaches ever reported, the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services is notifying some 1.3 million people after hackers gained unfettered access to an agency server for nearly a year before being discovered.
Sutter Health executives say its health information exchange will enable doctors and hospitals -- inside and outside its network of care -- to securely share clinical information. The organization sees it as a game changer, one that will boost care coordination and clinical quality across Northern California.
The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services has launched a federal probe into HIPAA privacy violations at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, according to an HHS spokesperson.
Data attacks on healthcare organizations have increased a whopping 100 percent from just four years ago, a reality that has chief security and information officers in a dash to stay ahead of the data protection curve.
Politics and poor management led to the breakdown of the government's health insurance website HealthCare.gov during its launch and in subsequent weeks, a new Senate report concludes.
With $23 billion already spent on incentivizing providers to adopt electronic health records, many in government and industry are wondering whether taxpayers and patients got what they paid for. The heart of the debate: The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT, its meaningful use program and interoperable EHRs.
The folks at cloud-based EHR company athenahealth found cause to celebrate earlier this week when the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid posted the list of EHR products providers used to attest to meaningful use.
A new survey from the AHIMA finds that 95 percent of the more than a thousand healthcare industry professionals queried believe that "high-value information" is essential for improving patient safety and care quality.
Imagine if almost everyone walking into your hospital -- patients, doctors, visitors, salespeople -- was carrying an active homing beacon, which broadcast, unencrypted, their presence and repeatedly updated exact location to anyone who chose to listen.
As anyone who's ever worked for IT security can attest, the job is no walk in the park. New threats, compliance mandates, vulnerabilities and updates are constant. But with strong leadership, and a culture of compliance and responsibility to match, many healthcare organizations have shown it can be done right -- and well.