Jacob Goldstein writes in the Wall Street Journal’s Health Blog: High hopes are afoot for personal health records, online homes where patients can store their medical information to take from doctor to doctor and keep track of things like prescriptions and test results. Microsoft and Google, among others, are jumping in the patient-controlled record pool….
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HIMSS Survey Points to ''Access'' As the Number One IT Security Concern
From the press release: According to a survey conducted at the HIMSS 2008 Annual Conference and Exhibition, 64 percent of respondents cited “access” as their number one IT security concern, highlighting the importance of controlling user access to clinical systems and applications in healthcare environments. Additionally, 60 percent of attendees surveyed cite the threat of…
Virginia Beach: Pretty good health privacy
Brian Robinson reports in Government Health IT: When sharing health information, government agencies must abide by rules established under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which does not allow such information to be transmitted unprotected via public networks. That seems like a simple rule, but schemes that provide secure sharing, such as public-key…
Senate bill won't prevent genetic discrimination, privacy activist says
Diana Manos writes in Healthcare IT News: A genetic nondiscrimination bill approved Thursday by a Senate panel won’t protect people from potentially losing their jobs or health insurance if the information gets out electronically, a privacy activist said. Deborah Peel, MD, founder of Patient Privacy Rights, said the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA), approved April…
California's largest purchaser of health insurance buys into statewide HIE
Nancy Ferris reports on Government Health IT: The California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) has directed its health plans, which cover more than 1.2 million people, to participate in the statewide health information exchange that is under development. The decision is a shot in the arm for the California Regional Health Information Organization (CalRHIO), which…
PA: Computer stolen from medical office
P.J. Reilly reports in the Intelligencer Journal: A medical practice in East Hempfield Township is contacting nearly 12,000 of its patients to notify them that a computer was stolen from the office April 17. The computer contained the names, addresses, telephone numbers and Social Security numbers of many of the patients who visited the office…