I have had relatives very close to me who, because of degenerative diseases and medical problems, have had to go to long term care (LTC) facilities. I always worried about the care they were receiving when I was not around. I worried that others would not be caring for them in a truly caring and kind way. I worried that people who had been convicted of violent crimes and financial fraud might try to take advantage of them and the others in the facility. I tried to keep a close watch on them.
Posts Tagged ‘HIPAA’
Medical Identity Theft and Bill Requiring Criminal Background Checks In LTC Facilities
Tuesday, June 19th, 2007HIPAA: More Changes and Initiatives by HHS
Thursday, April 26th, 2007I’ve been reading so much about HIPAA lately; no enforcement actions yet, but a lot of changes, proposals and initiatives.
Two more I read about recently:
HIPAA: Advisory Workgroup Proposes PHI Security and Privacy Requirements Should Apply to All Organizations
Monday, April 23rd, 2007The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has a Confidentiality, Privacy, and Security Workgroup, also known as the American Health Information Community, that is made up of practitioners, IT folks, lawyers and other leaders outside of the government who want a say in how protected health information (PHI) is safeguarded, shared, and otherwise handled.
Admitted HIPAA Noncompliance at UPMC: Penalties Must Be Applied to Make Laws Effective
Monday, April 16th, 2007On April 13 the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported that the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) admitted to using the records of 80 patients, including names and Social Security numbers, for a presentation they made at a 2002 symposium, in violation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
HIPAA Security Rule and Privacy Rule Enforcement Reportedly Going To Be Pursued In 2007
Monday, April 9th, 2007Something that has bothered me, and many others, for a very long time is how there have been absolutely no enforcement actions for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) privacy rule or security rule since they went into effect. Passing a law and then not doing anything to enforce it, even after the enforcement agencies have received tens of thousands of complaints reporting noncompliance, makes the law weak and prone to disregard by covered entities (CEs) who see others getting away with noncompliance with just a, “Whoops! Sorry, we’ll try to fix that.”
Punitive Actions Pursued Against Professor in Japan Who Had PII About 8,800 on Disk That Was Stolen
Thursday, March 1st, 2007The differences throughout the world with which personally identifiable information (PII) privacy breaches are penalized is always interesting to me.
Today it was reported that the
HIPAA: Privacy and the Press
Tuesday, February 13th, 2007An interesting editorial ran this past Sunday in the Mason City, Iowa Globe Gazette about HIPAA, “The Price of Privacy: HIPAA has far-ranging implications”
The title intrigued me. Yes, indeed there will be far-ranging implications to effectively start handling protected health information (PHI) in ways that will protect privacy.
HIPAA: Privacy and the Press
Tuesday, February 13th, 2007An interesting editorial ran this past Sunday in the Mason City, Iowa Globe Gazette about HIPAA, “The Price of Privacy: HIPAA has far-ranging implications”
The title intrigued me. Yes, indeed there will be far-ranging implications to effectively start handling protected health information (PHI) in ways that will protect privacy.
Privacy Breach: Johns Hopkins University Lost Personal Information on 135,000 Individuals
Sunday, February 11th, 2007There now seem to be so many privacy breaches that it is hard to choose which one to discuss…
Last Wednesday, 2/7, Johns Hopkins University reported personal information on 135,000 employees and patients on nine backup tapes were missing that had been given to a contractor, Anacomp Co. Inc., to make microfiche backups.
HIPAA: Congressional and GAO Reports Say HHS Needs To Make Changes To Protect Patient Privacy
Monday, February 5th, 2007According to a congressional testimony report posted February 1, “Private Health Records: Privacy Implications of the Federal Government’s Health Information Technology Initiative,” the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) needs to do more to address privacy and security concerns connected with the new technology.
Here is an excerpt from the testimony statement of Senator Daniel K. Akaka:
