Search Results from beSpacific
News release: "On April 17, 2009, HHS issued guidance specifying the technologies and methodologies that render protected health information unusable, unreadable, or indecipherable to unauthorized individuals, as required by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act...
"The Patient's Guide to HIPAA is the first comprehensive guide to medical privacy written expressly for patients with a practical eye as to how to use the law to protect privacy. It is a major privacy resource for patients, written...
CDT: "HHS Secretary Leavitt announced new key privacy principles for electronic health information exchange. In addition, HHS’s Office of Civil Rights published new HIPAA Privacy Rule guidance, which provides important clarifying information on how the Privacy Rule governs covered entities...
The Department of Health and Human Services And The Department of Justice Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control Program Annual Report For FY 2007, November 2008 "The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) established a national Health...
A Little Grafting of Second Life into a Legal Research Class: Rob Hudson discusses how Second Life can be used to enhance legal research instruction. Experiments in full class lectures and other uses of Second Life in higher education offer...
"NIST announces the release of the public draft of Special Publication 800-66 Revision 1, An Introductory Resource Guide to Implementing the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Security Rule (Draft). This Special Publication (SP), which discusses security considerations and...
"The World Privacy Forum filed extensive comments [April 4, 2008] regarding privacy protections for patients whose health care information will be shared with patient safety safety organizations under newly proposed Department of Health and Human Services regulations. After a landmark...
National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics, 2005-2006. February 2008 37 pp. (PHS) 2008-1205 "This report is the latest in a series of periodic reviews of the work of the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics (NCVHS), the statutory...
The World Privacy Forum - A Legal and Policy Analysis - Personal Health Records: Why Many PHRs Threaten Privacy, Prepared by Robert Gellman for the World Privacy Forum, February 20, 2008 "This document offers a legal and policy analysis of...
"The World Privacy Forum has filed public comments with the Department of Health and Human Services requesting that its new National Disaster Medical System protect all patient information to at least the baseline protections that HIPAA affords, including the HIPAA...
"World Privacy Forum executive director Pam Dixon testified at an FDA/AHRQ joint public workshop about the need for the FDA to set robust privacy standards for drug risk minimization programs, which are put in place for drugs the FDA has...
"The year 2006 marked the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the Office of Inspector General (OIG) at the Department of Health and Human Services, 20th anniversary of the False Claims Amendments Act of 1986, and 10th anniversary of the...
Follow-up to postings and resources for veterans impacted by recent data breach, this press release (includes text of letter to HHS): "Thirty organizations participating in the Consumer Coalition for Health Privacy yesterday asked U.S. Department of Health and Human Services...
On June 7 the New York Times reported on the availability of a significant new Justice Department memo that addresses limitations to the prosecution of personnel in the healthcare arena who have violated patient privacy by stealing personal data. Today,...
From the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Special Publication 800-66: An Introductory Resource Guide for Implementing the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Security Rule, March 2005 (137 pages, PDF)...
From the RedSiren press release: "A new survey of computer security professionals reveals that while many of them believe that the time they need to comply with increased government regulations has cut into their ability to secure their computer networks,...
Health Information: First-Year Experiences under the Federal Privacy Rule, GAO-04-965, September 3, 2004, Highlights (both documents in PDF). "Consumer and provider representatives contend that the general public is not well informed about their rights under the Privacy Rule. According to...
Fact Sheet: Privacy and Your Health Information Fact Sheet: Your Health Information Privacy Rights For reference, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996...
From the CMS press release, June 30: Electronic Medicare claims that do not meet Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) standards will be treated as paper claims and paid more slowly than HIPAA-compliant electronic claims beginning July 1..." See...
For resources on medical privacy issues, try the Medical Privacy Coalition. See also my pervious postings on HIPAA....
HIPAA Security Rule: what it is & how to comply with it....
Information Security: Status of Federal Public Key Infrastructure Activities at Major Departments and Agencies. GAO-04-157, December 15. From the Highlights: "PKI implementation continues to pose major challenges for agencies..." "Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) is IT infrastructure that enables users of...
Tech Guide: Keeping The Government Happy: "As tough new privacy protections are put in place, lessons are emerging about savvy ways to keep regulators at bay." Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) National Do Not Call Registry...
Intro to Weblogs for Law Firm Marketing - This important new web publishing tool can help legal services marketers reach niche audiences: by Amy Campbell, whose review includes mentions of SCOTUSBlog, HIPAA Blog, and this blog, about which she states:...
From the HHS Office on Civil Rights, this comprehensive resource, Medical Privacy - National Standards to Protect the Privacy of Personal Health Information, includes documentation for consumers, general background information, HIPAA regulations & standards, compliance & enforcement, educational materials, and...
Over a year ago, health care attorney Jeff Drummond launched HIPAA Blog, where he posts information and resources on medical privacy issues. This site is well worth a visit for links to related federal and state legislation and regulations, association...
The CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) posted an Early Release on April 11, HIPAA Privacy Rule and Public Health Guidance from CDC and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (pdf). This 24 page report includes an...
As a follow-up to my posting, HIPAA Security Standards Final Rule Published, see this New York Times article from April 6, Health System Warily Prepares for Privacy Rules. The new standards, effective April 14, require the health care industry to...
Please be advised that the new Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) security standards is a very long PDF document (289 pages). It is the text of the "final Rule adopting HIPAA standards for the security of electronic protected...
Medicare.gov is a useful new government sponsored resourse that provides data evaluating nursing homes that have been certified by Medicare and Medicaid. The site has a general search engine, as well as one that permits users to locate nursing homes...