In a joint effort to help small clinics and physician practices safeguard their patients' health information, the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society has partnered with the Medical Group Management Association to produce a specialized set of easily accessible informational tools.

Called the HIMSS Privacy and Security Toolkit for Small Provider Organizations, the interactive online resource allows users to share best practices and submit new privacy- and security-related tools for consideration, according to a HIMSS news release.

"Our toolkit is truly a roadmap for smaller practices and clinics as well as medical practices of any size that just need basic information on how to navigate the complex privacy and security laws and understand the security components to meet meaningful use that is part of the EHR incentive program," Lisa Gallagher, HIMSS' senior director, privacy and security, said in the release.

The toolkit is something that has been under consideration for years, Gallagher said, but the federal government's meaningful-use incentive program raised the stakes. "Both HIMSS and MGMA saw value in developing a joint toolkit specifically targeting clinicians, practice managers and others who are part of a small provider organization," she said in the release.