http://www.informationweek.com/news/healthcare/security-privacy/232301516 By Nicole Lewis InformationWeek January 09, 2012 According to experts in healthcare law and information privacy and security, healthcare IT managers can expect to see more patient data breaches in 2012, along with more lawsuits filed by patients as the availability of patient information exchanged over social media sites and mobile devices grows. These conclusions, published by ID Experts, offer a glimpse into what health CIOs can expect as they seek to protect patient data during a year that promises more of the same challenges they faced last year. In 2011, the healthcare industry had its fair share of patient data breaches, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) stepped up its oversight activities, handing down fines to healthcare organizations that were lax in meeting their patient privacy obligations. Rick Kam, president and co-founder of ID Experts and chair of the American National Standard Institute’s (ANSI’s) PHI Project, gave InformationWeek Healthcare his assessment of the forecasts, noting that "the thread that links all of the predictions together is safeguarding. Protected health information (PHI) is truly a patient safety issue, and healthcare data breaches will reach epidemic proportions this year if precautions are not taken." On the legal front, Kirk Nahra, partner at the law firm Wiley Rein LLP, predicts that the number of class-action lawsuits will increase in 2012 as patients sue healthcare organizations for failing to protect their health information. [...] _____________________________________________________ Did a friend send you this article? Make it your New Year's Resolution to subscribe to InfoSec News! http://www.infosecnews.org/mailman/listinfo/isnReceived on Mon Jan 09 2012 - 23:48:42 PST
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