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The second version of the device for inpatient settings features a camera, updated operating system, new carrying options and more.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act requires certain healthcare organizations dealing with protected health information to implement stringent security measures to safeguard that data. Yet executives at many healthcare organizations are in the dark – sometimes willfully – regarding how compliant their covered entities are to HIPAA privacy and security rules, according to Brand Barney, a security analyst for SecurityMetrics. Barney will be running a session at HIMSS16 in Las Vegas next week on the importance of gaining a realistic assessment of your organization’s ability to meet HIPAA compliance mandates. [Also: 8 out of 10 mobile health apps open to HIPAA violations] In his role at SecurityMetrics, Barney consults with companies and conducts audits on their data security and compliance. “What I’m seeing in the industry is a massive gap between IT professionals and executives regarding HIPAA,” he said. “Most executives believe they are HIPAA-compliant, but few really even understand what HIPAA is. They don’t know what it does for them. They say, ‘I got sold an EMR, or my attorney handles my privacy, or my IT professional covers security.’” That gap between perception and reality is where danger lies, Barney added. “Patient data is being removed from your organization and you don’t even know,” he said. “We’re not talking about credit card information; my HIPAA information has 18 identifiers, and it’s unique.” Even worse, some C-suite members are willfully ignorant about the source of data privacy and security dangers. [Also: 11 essential quotes from notable HIMSS keynotes] “There’s a lot of avoidance,” Barney said. “They don’t want to even think about insider threats. But people with privileged use levels, such as managers with access to PHIs, pose the greatest insider threat to an organization. And business associates are a major liability.” During his session Barney will explore widespread HIPAA and data security assumptions among healthcare industry executives and IT, common barriers preventing organizations from implementing crucial security improvements, and he’ll take a look at how to minimize organizational data breach probability based on vulnerabilities, threats, and risks. “HIPAA Reality Check: The Gap Between Execs and IT” is scheduled to be held on March 1 from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. PST in Sands Expo Convention Center Palazzo L. Twitter: @HealthITNews This story is part of our ongoing coverage of the HIMSS16 conference. Follow our live blog for real-time updates, and visit Destination HIMSS16 for a full rundown of our reporting from the show. For a selection of some of the best social media posts of the show, visit our Trending at #HIMSS16 hub.

Group joins with insurance broker Willis Towers Watson on new program.

Kalorama Information says electronic health record systems are here to stay after recent situations in Flint, Michigan and Hollywood Presbyterian in which electronic medical records played key roles in times of crisis. In Flint, Michigan, where residents are dealing with a lead poisoning water crisis, the lead was discovered as the result of searches conducted using data from an Epic EHR system. [Also: Flint hospital hit with cyberattack tied to hacker group Anonymous] Paper records would have failed the community, Kalorama claimed in its report, "EMR 2015: The Market for Electronic Medical Records." In Flint, the key physician involved in the case reviewed the EHRs of the children whose blood had been tested at the local hospital. Paper records alone would not have lent themselves to the kind of research needed to detect patterns, Kalorama researchers said. "The side benefit of EMR conversion, aside from cost savings, is that practice would improve and providers, academics and governments could obtain better epidemiological information," said Kalorama Information Publisher Bruce Carlson in a statement. "The visibility of the Flint, Michigan, story provides a real-world example of the benefits oft-stated during the conversion and incentive campaign," he said. [Also: Hollywood Presbyterian gives in to hackers, pays $17,000 ransom] The Kalorama report also points to EHR's vulnerabilities – most notably the recent case of medical data being held hostage by hackers at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles, which ultimately opted to pay $17,000 to rescue its information from cybercriminals. Kalorama points to questions raised in that ransomware incident: whether the hospital properly encrypted information, whether staff was properly trained in anti-phishing techniques, whether EMR use audits were conducted, and if anyone was designated as chief security officer at the hospital. "Such services and consulting offer opportunities for the industry, which has always been as much of a service industry as a software one," the Kalorama report said. [Like Healthcare IT News on Facebook] The incident comes a time when many physicians and hospitals have and are continuing to convert to electronic records, driven by federal government incentives, Carlson points out. Three out of four U.S. hospitals have a basic EMR system and most EMRs are being used without incident," Carlson said. "Ransomware attacks are not limited by any means to EMR or healthcare facilities as corporations and even police departments have suffered attacks." Twitter: @HealthITNews

A clinical professor at the school will discuss at HIMSS16 how a combination of people, process and technology drove success.

This time of year, millions of Americans file taxes. We are required to move sensitive financial data from employers and banks to the Internal Revenue Service. In the old days, we waited for paper W2’s and bank statements to arrive by mail and then spent hours with pencils and stacks of paper. But now tax preparation software enables automatic retrieval and upload of data in seconds and without error. Why is this possible? Because each of us controls our own financial data.  Now imagine that we want our sensitive health records transferred to a new doctor. We fill out paper forms, mail or fax them, pay fees, and if we are lucky a stack of printed paper records arrives by fax or mail at our new doctor’s office weeks or months later. Weeks after that they might be scanned into an electronic health record as images but, even then, they can’t be searched easily. At our first visit, we will answer a long list of questions. The answers are in our record, but the office staff and doctor will find it more efficient to re-enter them manually. There will be errors (like the male patient of Eric’s recorded by the system as female).   See all of our HIMSS16 previews Why the difference? Much has been written recently about information blocking — the inability or unwillingness of hospitals and doctors to share electronic data from our health records with one another. Lack of technical interoperability and regulations protecting security, privacy, and confidentiality are often blamed. But the reality is that technical barriers are falling. The same technology that enables your smartphone to pull sensitive financial data from your bank to pay your taxes or a taxi driver can be applied to your health care records. More importantly, the regulatory path to health records sharing is now open — the rules are already on the books. There are three ways your health care records can be shared electronically. All require your permission. One doctor’s system can query another doctor’s system for specific bits of your record (a digital version of a phone call request). One doctor’s system can push bits of your record to another doctor’s system (a digital version of a fax). Or the doctor’s system can give you your record and you can give it to anyone you wish. The last approach is called “consumer-mediated” sharing.  The advantage of consumer-mediated sharing is that you control your data, and you authorize access to it each time.  The disadvantage? Most people would rather not waste time with the tedium of authorizing data access, especially as it might exist today in online portals run by doctor offices, hospitals, and insurance companies. They want convenience. This is where the application programming interface or API could come into play. Just as tax preparation software handles the details, the right health care APIs can enable the exchange of data for specific purposes. Need a record of your last physical exam for softball camp? Need to know how much you spent on health care claims last year? Need to let your primary care doctor know the results of a recent specialist or emergency room visit? The right app could handle each of those needs for you with a few simple clicks.  How do recent regulatory changes permit this to happen? First, by law (HIPAA), health systems have to give you your data upon request. In 2015, the federal government set a new requirement that providers must provide that data to an application you designate (meaningful use Stage 3 regulation paragraph 495.24(d)(5)(ii)). Second, the data must be available in “machine readable” form so the app can help you make sense of it (HIT Certification regulation 170.315(g)(9)(ii)(3)). To meet these technical requirements, health records vendors have voluntarily agreed to collaborate on open standards for securing access to clinical information. Third, the apps will have to be secure in addition to being easy to use.  The tax preparation software example illustrates that we will pay others to move our data if they can do so securely. But for them to earn our trust, they will have to meet the privacy, security, and consumer protection standards that are required for sensitive health data.  The technical and regulatory pathway is clear. Nothing in law or regulation prevents consumer-mediated health record sharing. If we enlist someone we trust – our neighborhood health system, our insurer, our doctor, or even a favorite retailer to demand data on our behalf – the hospitals and doctors we authorize must respond. If we consumers demand and authorize easy record sharing, the health care system must make it happen.  Eric Schneider, MD is Senior Vice President for Policy and Research at the CommonWealth Fund, Aneesh Chopra is the co-founder and executive vice president of Hunch Analytics, and David Blumenthal, MD, is President of the CommonWealth Fund.   

HIMSS16 is shaping up to be the largest gathering of healthcare IT professionals ever assembled. It will build on a tradition that began in 1993 with just 4,000 attendees and continues to grow steadily. Last year’s conference drew more than 43,000 professionals to Chicago.  And even more are expected to attend this year’s conference in Las Vegas. As veteran conference-goers know, once the conference begins, sanity becomes a precious commodity. Schedules are difficult to maintain. Navigation between point A and point B suddenly becomes a challenge. The effort must be worth it. Veteran attendees continue to make it an annual pilgrimage. See all of our HIMSS16 previews So in the interest of keeping you sane while you pack as much networking and education into your allotted time, here are some tips to help you get the most from your time in Las Vegas. Tip One: The shuttle is free Las Vegas has plenty of taxi cabs but you don’t need to spend your expense account on car fare. HIMSS provides a free shuttle service from most hotels during regular conference hours. You’ll find the schedule here. There is even free transportation to the airport. Tip Two: Know the territory There will be more than 1,300 vendors exhibiting in the Sands Expo, spread out over 3 levels. The exhibit space will occupy over 1.3 million square feet of space. That’s equivalent to 22 NFL size football fields. Spend some time reviewing the Exhibit Hall map before you step off the shuttle bus and find yourself blinded by the sea of bright lights. Level One, which is also marked as Hall G of the Exhibit Hall, is the exhibit area you will encounter when you arrive at the main transportation outlet, which is where buses will stop. This exhibit hall contains the higher-numbered exhibits, Booths 9600 - 13999. Here you’ll find hundreds of exhibits and many specialty exhibit areas such as the Connected Health Experience, Cybersecurity Command Center, Federal Health Pavilion, HIMSS Interoperability Showcase, Intelligent Health Pavilion, Clinical & Business Intelligence, Population Health, Disaster Preparedness, Revenue Cycle and University Row.  [Like Healthcare IT News on Facebook] Level Two, up the escalators, is where you’ll find booths 100 – 8599 including many of the large Anchor Exhibitors, First Time Exhibitors and many HIMSS exhibits including:  HIMSS Analytics, HIMSS Bookstore, HIMSS Media, HIMSS Spot and the new HIMSS16 Living Room, a meeting space where you can relax and meet other members. Level Three is home to HX360 and exhibit space marked from 30001 – 38006. This level contains all HX360 programs and activities, including the Innovation Leaders Program, the Executive Program and the Innovation Pavilion, Start-up Showcase and the Venture+ Forum. If you’re lucky enough to have a ticket to the Executive Program, this is where you’ll find Former Utah Gov. Mitt Romney, who is scheduled to speak on Wednesday, March 2. Tip Three: Plan your education carefully The education begins first thing Monday, February 29 at 8 a.m. sharp. The Pre-Conference Symposia run throughout the day, organized around specific educational topics, but they all conclude by 5:30 p.m., in time for the opening keynote presentation, a joint session with Michael Dell, founder and Chief Executive Officer of Dell Inc. and Sylvia Mathews Burwell, Secretary of Health & Human Services. The exhibit hall is not open Monday, so you will be able to focus on educational sessions. But when the exhibit hall is open Tuesday through Thursday, the choices will be more difficult. Over 300 educational sessions take place in ballrooms located adjacent to the Exhibit Hall area; they are all listed here. In addition, there are over 80 educational sessions presented on the exhibit hall floor as part of the Knowledge Centers; you’ll find a guide here Tip Four: Expand your social circle The last “S” in HIMSS stands for “society” so don’t be anti-social. This is a prime opportunity to form new professional relationships. Everyone taking the shuttle bus or waiting for a session to start shares a common interest with you, so seize the opportunity to make a new friend. Gatherings take place every evening and they start on Monday. After the keynote ends Monday at 7 p.m., follow the very big crowd as everyone makes their way to the first party of HIMSS16: an Exhibit Hall opening reception from 7 to 8 p.m., open to all registered attendees. Wine and cheese will be served. For the official directory of networking opportunities, visit the HIMSS16 Conference website networking section. Tip Five: The HIMSS16 Mobile app knows where you’re going Advance preparation will get you only so far. Once you’re at the conference, you’ll still want help finding your way around. The HIMSS16 Mobile App provides the location of all exhibitors and educational sessions. Looking for food services? They’re listed. Need to find the luggage check? Ditto. Shuttle bus schedule, shipping services, re-charging stations, they’re all listed and easy to find. And the app also has a new way to network: an activity feed where attendees share updates and photos, and see what other people are up to. You’ll find the app in the iTunes store or Google Play by searching for HIMSS. Here are a few maps of the floorplan. Twitter: @GusVenditto This story is part of our ongoing coverage of the HIMSS16 conference. Follow our live blog for real-time updates, and visit Destination HIMSS16 for a full rundown of our reporting from the show. For a selection of some of the best social media posts of the show, visit our Trending at #HIMSS16 hub.

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The electronic health record software maker said it will debut early components of new cloud-based technology at HIMSS16.

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