BNA INSIGHTS: Electronic Health Records Data and Secondary Use Research

An electronic health record (EHR) captures health data for treatment at the point of care but can also serve an important role for quality reporting, surveillance, and research…

BNA INSIGHTS: Stringent New Health Privacy Legislation Enacted in Texas Will Present Difficult Implementation Challenges and Increased Enforcement Activity

Citing concerns that federal law does not adequately protect patient privacy, Texas recently enacted stringentnew health privacy legislation that extends patient protections beyond those contained in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) or the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act…

BNA INSIGHTS: The Proliferation of Mobile Devices and Apps for Health Care: Promises and Risks

The popularity of smartphones like the Droid and iPhone as well as tablet devices such as the iPad means that people are able to accomplish many things without physically sitting in front of a computer or even being in the office…

OCR Proposes HIPAA Privacy Rule Revisions On Disclosures Accounting, Access Reporting

A recently published health data privacy proposed rule goes beyond legal requirements and would be burdensome for the health care industry by creating two separate new rights for individuals—one allowing requests for a full accounting of access to their electronic or paper protected health information, and a second allowing requests for information about who has accessed their PHI in electronic form…

BNA INSIGHTS: Advice to Hospitals and Physician Practices: Protecting Your Data in an Uncertain HIT World

HIT Vendors:
Until the long-term prospects of health information technology vendors become more predictable, it is likely that a customer entering into a contract today with one HIT vendor will not be working with that same vendor in a decade or less. The author highlights a few steps health care providers can take to ensure that, however the relationship with the vendor ends, the customer’s interests, and data, will be protected…

BNA INSIGHTS: The Top 10 Privacy and Security Developments to Watch in 2011

The message for corporate America on privacy and security is simple: you only need to worry about privacy and security laws and rules if you have customers or employees.
So, on the chance that your company meets this threshold, what are the primary issues to be watching in 2011?…

BNA INSIGHTS: HHS Proposed Rule Fine-Tunes HITECH and HIPAA Requirements

On July 14, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) published a notice of proposed rulemaking (the “Proposed Rule”) that would modify the HIPAA privacy…

HHS Releases Final Rules on Meaningful Use Standards, E-Records Systems Certification

Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius July 13 announced two upcoming final rules to help eligible physicians and…

HHS Proposes Extending HIPAA Enforcement, Privacy, Security Rules to Business Associates, Subcontractors

The Department of Health and Human Services July 8 announced proposed changes to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act Privacy Rule, Security Rule, and…

ANALYSIS: Issues Raised by Use of Open Source Software for Electronic Health Records

Despite the contentious nature of the recent debate on health care reform, most of the participants agree on one core fact: health care costs in the United States have been…