Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar of Associated Press reports:
The nation’s push to computerize medical records has failed to fully address longstanding security gaps that expose patients’ most sensitive information to hackers and snoops, government investigators warn.
Two reports released today by the inspector general of the Health and Human Services Department find that the drive to connect hospitals and doctors so they can share patient data electronically is being layered on a system that already has glaring privacy problems. Connecting it up could open new pathways for hackers, investigators say.
Read more on The Tennessean. It would be nice if they linked to the actual reports, which so far, I’ve been unable to find.
Update: Hogan & Lovells provides links in their discussion:
OIG’s summaries of the two reports, including links to copies of the complete reports, are available at the following links:
Nationwide Rollup Review of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services HIPAA Oversight
Audit of Information Technology Security Included in Health Information Technology Standard