BNA INSIGHTS: The Top Health Care Privacy Issues to Watch in 2012

There’s a lot going on in the health care world today. Perhaps because of ongoing health care reform developments and the long-standing delay in issuing final amendment to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act rules, the topic of health care privacy has been relatively quiet in 2011…

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: Under Proposed Rule, Laboratories Would be Required to Release Test Results to Patients; Implementation Would Require Significant New Policies and Procedures

In many states, laboratories are prohibited from releasing test results to patients (or at least are prohibited from doing so without the consent of the physician who ordered the test). That may be set to change.

BNA INSIGHTS: The HIPAA Proposed Accounting Rule and the Future of Health Care Privacy

It is fair to conclude that few people would have expected the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act Accounting Rule to create one of the most significant debates about health care privacy in the HIPAA era…

BNA INSIGHTS: U.S. Supreme Court Strikes Down Vermont Prescription Data Mining Law

In a clear and resounding victory for data mining companies, the U.S. Supreme Court June 23 struck down a Vermont law prohibiting pharmaceutical companies from buying or using prescription data for marketing purposes…

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…

Split Supreme Court Strikes Vermont Data Mining Law, Says Statute Burdens Free Speech

In a 6-3 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court June 23 declared unconstitutional a Vermont statute that bars pharmacies from selling or disclosing information that identifies physicians and the medications they prescribe for marketing purposes and precludes pharmaceutical manufacturers from using such information to market their products (Sorrell v. IMS Health Inc., U.S., No. 10-779, 6/23/11)…

BNA INSIGHTS: HHS Proposed Rule Creates New Access Report Obligations and Amends Existing Accounting of Disclosures Provisions

On May 31, 2011, the Department of HHS released a notice of proposed rulemaking creating a new requirement that covered entities produce an “access report” informing individuals of those who have viewed their records, while also modifying existing accounting of disclosures rules under HIPAA…

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…

Next Page »