Weekly roundup: 2013 starts out big
Chances are good that you are at least somewhat affected by any of the flu-like symptoms currently sweeping the U.S., either personally or via record numbers of patients at your facility. Apparently, 2013 got the memo to go big or go home. From the record levels of flu occurring so early in the year to the three breaches we’ve already reported this year, 2013 is set to have a big impact.
A stolen laptop impacted 29,000 patients of Gibson General Hospital in Indiana, more than 1,000 Kentucky Medicaid beneficiaries’ data could have been compromised thanks to a computer scam and The theft of electronic equipment from a vendor employee's car has prompted the University of Michigan Health System to alert approximately 4,000 patients that some of their demographics and health information may have been exposed.
Although Leon Rodriguez, director of the Office of Civil Rights, said during the Office of the National Coordinator of Health IT annual meeting last month that just because an organization suffers a breach doesn’t mean it did anything wrong, it also doesn’t mean that organization won’t face penalties. The Hospice of North Idaho has agreed to pay the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services $50,000 to settle potential violations of the HIPAA Security Rule. This is the first settlement involving a breach of unprotected electronic protected health information affecting fewer than 500 individuals.
“This action sends a strong message to the healthcare industry that, regardless of size, covered entities must take action and will be held accountable for safeguarding their patients’ health information,” said Rodriguez. “Encryption is an easy method for making lost information unusable, unreadable and undecipherable.”
On other fronts, mobile device use will keep climbing in the foreseeable future and healthcare is expected to play a large part in that growth, and North Arkansas Regional Medical Center in Harrison became the state's first hospital to launch the State Health Alliance for Records Exchange, the statewide health information exchange.
Fasten your seatbelts, folks--I think we're in for a bumpy ride this year.
Beth Walsh
Editor, Clinical Innovation + Technology
bwalsh@trimedmedia.com
Editor
Editor Beth earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and master’s in health communication. She has worked in hospital, academic and publishing settings over the past 20 years. Beth joined TriMed in 2005, as editor of CMIO and Clinical Innovation + Technology. When not covering all things related to health IT, she spends time with her husband and three children.