Category Archives: Strategy
Is your sensitive medical data secured with your web application?
Big organizations often need web applications to handle and manage their medical information but with strict HIPAA compliance Rules, the healthcare providers need to ensure that they are entrusting their sensitive PHI data to vendors and partners who are as vigilant as they themselves are in protecting PHI. As such when choosing your web designer … Continue reading
Knowing about Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act
The regulation implementing the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005 (PSQIA) was published on November 21, 2008, and became effective on January 19, 2009. PSQIA establishes a voluntary reporting system to enhance the data available to assess and resolve patient safety and health care quality issues. To encourage the reporting and analysis of … Continue reading
Knowing about Advanced Encryption Standard (AES)
HIPAA data encryption standards require health care providers, health insurance companies and business associates who transmit, store or access protected health information in electronic form to utilize a standardized level of data encryption. The Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) is Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) approved cryptographic algorithm used to protect electronic data and is quite … Continue reading
Exceptional cases when PHI may be disclosed by healthcare professionals
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) has Privacy Rule to ensure the protection of a patient’s health information. However, there are certain exceptions to the confidentiality: 1. If a state or federal law authorizes medical disclosures, then the HIPAA privacy rule does not apply. For instance, if paternity of a child … Continue reading
The five titles which make up HIPAA
The HIPAA law was enacted to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the American health care system. The law includes administrative simplification provisions to establish standards and requirements for the electronic transmission of certain health care information. It also requires organizations exchanging information for health care transactions to follow national implementation guidelines. To meet these … Continue reading
SecureGRC SB™ from eGestalt to help small businesses with HIPAA & HITECH compliance
eGestalt is a provider of information technology governance, risk management and compliance (IT-GRC) solutions for small to mid-size organizations. eGestalt, headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and has offices in US, Asia-Pacific and Middle East., has announced the U.S. availability of SecureGRC SB™, a patent-pending Cloud computing and Software-as-a-Service (Saas) application that helps to meet HIPAA … Continue reading
Using hard drive full disc encryption for safety of electronic data
Healthcare providers often stand at the risk of losing confidential and personal data when laptop computers are misplaced or stolen. Companies large and small, public and private, are all at risk. The real and associated costs of data breaches are staggering: In 2006, corporations that experienced a data breach spent an average of $5 million … Continue reading
Civil and Criminal penalties for HIPAA violations
The authorities have made it a point that a strict penalty is imposed on healthcare providers in case HIPAA laws are violated. When the personal health information of any patient is unlawfully transferred from one source to another, the law imposes both, criminal and civil penalties. The civil penalties for HIPAA violations include: The American … Continue reading
Importance of complying with the norms of the HITECH Act
HITECH Act was signed in 2009 but it took effect in 2010. HITECH intends to encourage the adoption and meaningful use of technology as it pertains to health information. HITECH strengthens civil and criminal enforcement of the existing HIPAA rules and regulations and for those not dealing with the electronic transmission of health information properly, … Continue reading
Why will to need to flash your photo ID during your doctor visit?
With the advent of 2011, you now not only have to sign a new privacy form every time you visit a doctor but also have to show your photo ID. This is because with December 31, 2010, a new legislation designed to prevent the theft of your identity – colloquially called the “Red Flags Rule” … Continue reading