A doctor's phone can now be zipped with a patient's information or lab results, allowing him to analyse them instantly. Nurses can enter/retrieve notes and findings from a patient's ER visit...A doctor's phone can now be zipped with a patient's information or lab results, allowing him to analyse them instantly. Rather than waiting for the paper chart to make its tortuous way up several stories to the patient's room, nurses can enter/retrieve notes and findings on a patient's emergency room treatment from a nurses' station, a laptop, or a portable device from anywhere in the hospital. In the not-too-distant future, a patient's information could be sent anywhere in a matter of seconds.
However, these technological advancements pose significant security risks, as electronic data is far more vulnerable to loss or alteration than paper records. In support of the goal of privacy and reliability of electronic health information, HIPAA law, in the form of the Security Rule, addresses some of these issues. HIPAA's rules, as well as its associated Privacy and Security rules, total nearly 1,000 pages. In order to ensure that these laws are properly implemented, both HIPAA lawyers and HIPAA Consulting firms must collaborate. The problem with information is that it is both large and difficult to transport. In tinier and tinier mediums, massive amounts of data can be stored. There is an increasing danger in the transportation of information in a world where highly sensitive information can be stored on a piece of hardware that is no bigger than a piece of change (which we all know frequently finds its way out of our pockets). Furthermore, in today's world of social networking, it's not uncommon for people to do things they wouldn't do in a professional setting, forgetting that electronic media like the internet make information (sensitive or otherwise) limitless. Once it's out, it's free to go wherever it wants. People asked Why Is Interoperability Important In Healthcare IT? They might text other caregivers or patients, for example, without thinking about whether the media or networks they're using are secure from interception.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act Security Rule addresses these concerns by requiring that Protected Health Information ("PHI") be encrypted both during storage and transmission, in accordance with the principles outlined in a Department of Health and Human Services Guidance published in April 2009. The HITECH Act's revisions to the health insurance portability and accountability act require the Department of Health and Human Services to conduct periodic "spot audits" of hospitals for privacy and security. Obviously, a hospital should have its Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act lawyers working on security precautions long before this type of examination occurs.
Health insurance portability and accountability act consulting firms, in collaboration with a team that includes IT, Records, Legal, and outside health insurance portability and accountability act lawyers, should launch a healthcare compliance security initiative by evaluating existing security technical protections as well as administrative security processes (i.e., how electronic health records are managed). One of the key principles of healthcare compliance is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, which was passed in 2010. Article Submission, and the hospital will achieve the required standard most cost-effectively by bringing together the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act lawyers and consulting teams with the hospital stakeholders early enough to realise workable tactics in information security.
