4 Ways Health IT Can Build Trust
April 4 2013, Benjamin Harris (Featured on HealthcareITNews) Medicine is a two-way street; it works best when the patient and the provider trust each other, and can work together for the best outcome. While technology can enable those outcomes, when improperly used — consider the epidemic of patient data breaches — it can also raise some eyebrows and scare some people away from embracing it. Scott Zimmerman, president at TeleVox Software, understands these concerns. But he sees technology offering a net gain on the...
Read MoreTop 5 BYOD Blunders When Trying To Realize The Productivity Potential Of Workers Bringing Their Own Devices To Work
(Featured on Tech Biz Econ Blog) Blunder # 1 – No pre planning Some companies just think – ‘oh people are using their cellphones at work, ok let them use the company network and we will see how it goes and deal with the issues as they arise’. Companies that just open their networks to BYOD without a plan will have real security problems, and they will probably issues that will not be easy to fix or deal with as they arise. You need to ask questions like: Who do we want to use the network? Do we want to control...
Read MoreGrowing Pains for Mobile Devices
March 13 2013, John Andrews (featured on Healthcare Finance News) The proliferation of mobile devices in healthcare has been a boon for medical professionals as the portability of smart phones, tablets and laptops keep them connected from wherever they might be at any given time. This convenience has allowed clinicians to correspond, check patient statuses and review vital data to make critical decisions while at home, in transit or at a remote site. Yet for all the ways mobile devices make individuals’ lives easier, the...
Read MoreData Security and Breach Prevention
March 13 2013, Greg Reid (featured on Healthcare Finance News) Your organization likely will experience a data breach of some kind. And when it does, people will want to know, what you were doing to prevent one, and how you are going to respond. The latest Ponemon Institute study on patient privacy and data security, released in January, reports on the rise of data breaches in healthcare. Eighty healthcare organizations participated in the study with 324 interviews. Key findings included: 94 percent of healthcare organizations...
Read MoreHIPAA Compliance Takes Patient, Employee and Vendor Follow Up
February 26 2013, Don Fluckinger (Featured on SearchHealthIT) CHICAGO — Health care providers need to improve their mobile device security and ride their EHR vendors for training and tech support when it comes to utilizing data security features. For many, those are weak spots in HIPAA compliance, said Joy Pritts, chief privacy officer for the Office of the National Coordinator of Health IT (ONC). Some vendors don’t make HIPAA compliance and security a top priority, said Pritts, speaking as keynote at the first day...
Read MoreFive Healthcare Mobile Device (BYOD) Security Best Practices
February 8 2013, Patrick Ouelette (HealthIT Security) Five Healthcare Mobile Device Security Best Practices One healthcare organization’s mobile device strategy may not be the best fit for another’s, but organizations can still learn from others’ mobile technology, processes and policies. Mobile device security remains at the forefront of many c-suite executives’ worst fears, and for good reason. The devices, whether BYOD or organization-distributed, are often connected to sensitive patient data and secured in...
Read MoreFive Essential Mobile Security Steps
February 5 2012, Rob Quinn (HealthcareInfo Security) Tablets and other mobile devices are gaining in popularity and are emerging as great resources for physicians, other clinicians and patients. A recent survey by Manhattan Research reported that more than 60 percent of physicians own an iPad, almost double the percentage of a year ago. Educating healthcare professionals upfront, rather than as a response to a breach, can help prevent security incidents. In a preliminary survey for the pilot, patients identified potential...
Read MoreSmall Firms, Big HIPAA Troubles
January 29 2013, Marianna Kolbasuk McGee (featured on HealthcareInfoSecurity) The time has come for business associates of all sizes, as well as their subcontractors, to get their HIPAA compliance act together. Here’s why: When the new HIPAA omnibus rule takes effect in the months ahead, business associates and their subcontractors will be on the hook, along with the covered entities they serve, for health data breaches and HIPAA non-compliance issues. They now must comply or face investigations and potentially hefty...
Read More4 Ways to Make Health IT Clinician-Friendly
January 25 2013, Benjamin Harris (Featured On HealthcareITNews) It is no secret that there is a swarm of health IT in the marketplace, all vying for a larger user base. However, at what point does technology become more of a hindrance than a help? Doctors and nurses who are burdened with clunky or inefficient systems run the risk of becoming less effective instead of more. Joe Condurso, president and CEO of PatientSafe, spoke to Healthcare IT News about a few key factors in designing technology that aligns with the workflows...
Read MoreWhat Will It Take For Docs To Use Apps?
January 16 2013, Diana Manos (featured on HealthcareITNews) With events such as the Consumer Electronics Associations’ 2013 International CES conference this week in Las Vegas, featuring a dizzying 3,000 global app companies and a digital health summit, there is a lot of hype around what apps can do for healthcare. But as the apps flood forth, what about regulation, in a world where the sluggish wait for FDA approval is a dirge often heard? What do experts advise doctors to look for when they want to use an app? Kerry...
Read MoreHow Does HIPAA and the HITECH Act Impact Medical Device and Pharma Companies?
January 15 2013, Rachel Rose (featured on Becker’s Hospital Review) A recent article in the Wall Street Journal, “Heart Gadgets Test Privacy Law Limits,” raised three items in relation to HIPAA that all entities handling patient information need to consider. First, whether medical device and pharmaceutical companies qualify as a covered entity, business associate or subcontractor post-HITECH Act. Second, the patient’s right to access data that is considered protected health information. As delineated in...
Read MoreAre Your Mobile Devices HIPAA Compliant? Practical Steps to Ensure Compliance
January 7 2013, Sarah Swank (featured on JDSUPRA Law News) Mobile device use is becoming more commonplace in health care. Health care professionals use text messaging to communicate with each other about patient status. Medical schools now provide residents tablets to use as textbooks and to round on patients. With the increased use of mobile devices comes increased opportunity for HIPAA compliance issues. In the recently launched initiative, Mobile Devices: Know the RISKS. Take the STEPS. PROTECT and SECURE Health Information,...
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