New HITECH Law deadline knocks at the healthcare industry’s door
The new HITECH Law gets effective from February 20, 2010 and with this, will change the way you handle Private Health Information (PHI), especially when using computers. Internet information sharing has made Private Health Information (PHI) vulnerable to employees stealing patient info and maliciously posting it on the internet and hackers stealing insurance ID information and misusing social security numbers.
This has provoked the federal government to take protective measures and go for The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH or “The Act”), of 2009 (ARRA), which encourage the use of health information technology by endorsing several incentives.
As the new laws become effective, electronic health information sharing will be subject to much stricter guidelines. Penalties for HIPAA violations range from $100 to $50,000 per incident for businesses in non-compliance. And civil penalties (placed upon employee breaches) will be strict and hefty as well.
However, the basic problem is getting your Risk Management / HI TECH Law requirements in place properly and effectively as this new law has many written components it can take several days to research, format and get into place. Although there are many websites which offer organized, easy to understand and customized support, most of them are charging upwards of $400 for this info. Make sure that you go in for the right help and support which makes your HI TECH Law is comprehensive and user friendly!
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