After a few days unable to make time to post to the blog, or technical difficulties preventing me when I did make time, I’m happy to resume my posting!
Today I want to offer a few thoughts about the breach notice rules that were released last week by the HHS and the FTC in compliance with the HITECH Act requirements…
HIPAA/HITECH Breach Notice Rule: Applies To PHI of Deceased Individuals + Training A Key Element
August 24th, 2009HIPAA, PCI, Technical Difficulties…
August 19th, 2009My blog hosting service was down from last Thursday through Monday, so I wasn’t able to post to the blog during that time.
Now my blog service is back, but I’ve been consumed with MSIA teaching, HIPAA/HITECH and PCI work the past few days…plan to get back to regular posting soon! Sorry for what has been my longest blog break ever.
Security and Privacy: Trends, Tools and Techniques
August 12th, 2009I’m in Houston this week giving my class “Security and Privacy: Trends, Tools and Techniques.”
Hidden Privacy & Security Risks of Web 2.0
August 10th, 2009There’s been a lot in the news lately about “Web 2.0” security and privacy problems. A lot of folks, though, don’t know what that term really means. Do your personnel know what it means? Probably not. This is certainly understandable since Web 2.0 really is a reference to many different things. The common link is that Web 2.0 represents what is considered to be the “second generation” of Internet activities and tools…
You Need These Things When You Get HIPAA Audited!
August 7th, 2009I get a bit irritated when I see a vendor touting their “compliance solution” products as making organizations “HIPAA Compliant” or “PCI DSS Compliant” or whatever your regulation of choice happens to be, and then, upon inspection of their products, see that they are just taking something they already had, slapping some marketing language into the description, picking a few of the regulatory requirements that their product may do (fully or partially) and then calling it a “compliance solution.”
OCR Adding To Staff For Increased HIPAA Compliance Enforcement Activities
August 5th, 2009Monday the HHS announced they were moving responsibility for both HIPAA Security Rule and Privacy Rule under the OCR.
That same day they also announced they were expanding the HIPAA “privacy enforcement team.” (Scroll down on this page to see the full verbiage of the announcement.)
HIPAA Enforcement Will Improve With OCR Responsible for Both Privacy Rule & Security Rule
August 3rd, 2009Today the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that the OCR will now be responsible for both the HIPAA Privacy Rule and the Security Rule.
Perhaps this is an indicator of more enforcement to come. As a quick review…
(Lack Of) Encryption Is A Basis For Notification Under The HITECH Act
July 31st, 2009This week one of my tweeps asked me the following: “What’s your interpretation of encryption obligations for PHI data-at-rest under HITECH? Many parties are sweating this now.” Great question!
HITECH Act: Breach Notification Is Necessary Based Upon Items Used In De-Identification
July 29th, 2009Continuing along the discussion of the HITECH Act this week, I want to consider a couple of questions I recently discussed with a CISO at a healthcare insurer about when breach notification is necessary…
Is This A Breach Under The HITECH Act Definition?
July 27th, 2009This week I want to take a closer look at some of the issues and requirements within the HITECH Act, which dramatically expands the reach and requirements under the U.S. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)…
