Data security news and information

Some healthcare CIOs hope to create a platform for dialogue and to create consensus around two sensitive privacy issues—patient record identification and consent management.
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The bad news is, if your healthcare organization hasn't yet had a privacy and security breach hit the media, it probably will, consultant Steven Bennett says.
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An unencrypted laptop containing the medical and personal data of more than 3,500 University of California at San Francisco Medical Center patients was stolen from an employee's car in September.
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The Texas Health Services Authority and the Health Information Trust Alliance are partnering to develop and implement a program that will improve the security of health information for Texas residents.
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HIPAA makes it hard for organizations to obtain personal health information and even harder to use that information for the purpose of data analysis. Empowering patients to own and share their own data—and then assuring them that it's being properly de-identified—can ease this process.
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An unsecure email sent by a CaroMont Health employee has resulted in a possible security breach involving more than 1,300 patients' personal health records. The email in question contained protected health information, including names, dates of birth, addresses, telephone numbers, medical record...
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A Janesville, Wis., hospital is warning patients after one of its laptops was stolen from an employee's car over the summer. St. Mary's Janesville Hospital thinks 629 patients may have been affected, meaning some protected health information relating to medical visits may have been compromised.
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Data breaches threaten healthcare organizations from all angles—from hackers, thieves and forgetful employees—and touch all facets of IT infrastructure. Updated HIPAA rules make organizations responsible for the actions of their business associates, too. Healthcare IT security is a...
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In the run-up to the Sept. 23 enforcement date for a host of revisions to federal health information privacy laws, one group—clinical laboratories—will get something of a respite, and another—pharmaceutical manufacturers—some regulatory relief.
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The Obama administration is planning a high-level effort to reassure Americans about the privacy and security of the information submitted under the new healthcare law, hoping to blunt complaints from Republican opponents that enough isn't being done to protect consumer data.
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