HIPAA security guidelines being readied
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A working group made up of members from three organizations plans this month to release guidelines for complying with the data security requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
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In the third article in his "Age of Compliance" series, Dr. Anton Chuvakin looks at how intrusion detection is specified -- or not -- by three major standards: FISMA, HIPAA and PCI-DSS.
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A breakthrough in physiological monitoring is about to take center stage  as Empirical Technologies prepares "BPGuardian&#8482;"  for commercial deployment.
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(InfoWorld) - The communications network used to transmit medical data for the U.S. government's Medicare and Medicaid programs has security vulnerabilities that could expose patients' medical data and other personal information, according to a report released Tuesday. The report, released by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), identified 47 weaknesses in the way the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' (CMS) used a WAN (wide-area network) operated by an unnamed contractor. CMS uses the network to transmit claims data -- including patient names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, addresses and medical information -- to health-care facilities, contractors, financial institutions, and state Medicaid offices. "A security breach in this communication network could lead to interruptions in the processing of medical claims or to unauthorized access to personally identifiable medical data, seriously diminishing the public's trust in CMS's ability to protect the sensitive beneficiary data it is entrusted with," the GAO said in the report. GAO, in its review of CMS security procedures early this year, found that the agency and contractor did not use adequate identification and authentication controls for access to the network, did not restrict user access to only those programs and files workers need, did not close off all access from the private network to the Internet and did not consistently encrypt sensitive data. CMS did not always ensure security policies it has in place, GAO said. "CMS did not always ensure that its contractor effectively implemented controls designed to prevent, limit, and detect electronic access to sensitive computing resources and to devices used to support the communication network," the GAO said. GAO gave CMS an early copy of the report, and Dr. Mark McClellan, CMS administrator, said in a July 10 letter the agency took quick action to fix the problems. CMS, working with its contractor, had fixed 22 of the 47 vulnerabilities identified by the July letter, and an additional 14 were scheduled to be fixed within weeks. The final 11 vulnerabilities were "somewhat more complex" and were scheduled to be fixed by Jan. 7, he wrote. "We are taking further steps to assure that none result in actual security breaches," McClellan added. "We have been proactive in our oversight of the network but are taking further steps to enhance security." GAO does not typically name contractors in its reports because its focus is on agency performance, a GAO spokesman said. A CMS spokesman said he did not know which contractor was involved in the network targeted by the GAO report. CMS uses multiple contractors, he said. The Medicare program is the nation's largest health-insurance program, covering 42 million U.S. citizens.
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Security-focused Windows XP update can be tough on applications. Guidelines are meant to help professionals "test and mitigate."
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Should an AIDS patient&#39;s unit and his closely-related ones be informed of his disease if he is confirmed? How do we protect patient&#39;s right of privacy?
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Hospitals are being told to standardise patients' wristbands to cut out errors in care.
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HERNDON, Va., March 2  /PRNewswire/ -- The federal government's American Health Information Community is providing funds and encouraging private industry to participate in the government's increasing use of electronic records and systems for the creation, storage and sharing of health information.
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WASHINGTON - Privacy advocates are concerned that an implantable microchip designed to help doctors tap into a patient&#39;s medical records could undermine confidentiality or could even be used to track the patient&#39;s movements.
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NHS patients may get new smart cards controlling access to personal health data.
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OS security fix is being rolled out to users who have enabled Automatic Updates.
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Secure Computing Corporation, a leading enterprise gateway security company, has recently announced the Middle East launch of Domain Health Check - a free web service that provides users with a behavior-based view of the messaging and web reputation of their domains.
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More than 40% of Medicare contractors and state Medicaid agencies have experienced privacy breaches involving personal health information, according to report released yesterday by the Government Accountability Office.
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State health departments, which are scrambling to ensure that their highest-risk residents get flu shots, can now log on to a secure, private government Web site
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NEW YORK  - With health officials now  urging Americans to dig into their family health history,  experts advise taking advantage of free Internet tools -- and  upcoming holiday gatherings -- to get started on the project.
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The nationâs two leading heart groups issued new guidelines Thursday about what should be done for patients with heart disease before they undergo surgery on other parts of the body.
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Ministers are expected to signal the go-ahead for the controversial electronic medical records system.