Today, the Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced that it has reached separate settlements with Boston Medical Center (BMC), Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) for compromising the privacy of patients’ protected health information (PHI) by inviting film crews on premises to film “Boston Med,” an ABC television network documentary series, without first obtaining authorization from patients. Collectively, the three entities paid OCR $999,000 to settle potential violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule. This is the second HIPAA case involving an ABC medical documentary television series, the previous being OCR’s April 16, 2016 settlement with New York-Presbyterian Hospital in association with the filming of “NY Med.” “Patients in hospitals expect to encounter doctors and nurses when getting treatment, not film crews … [Read more...] about Unauthorized Disclosure of Patients’ Protected Health Information During “Boston Med” Filming Results in Multiple HIPAA Settlements Totaling $999,000
Health information act
5 questions: Why celebrities and politicians aren’t the best source of health information
Sitting off-camera, awaiting his appearance on the The Colbert Report, Paul Offit was nervous, even frightened. Here he was, one of the country’s foremost experts on vaccinations, a doctor who is head of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. It should have been easy to explain what Stephen Colbert was exploring — why the anti-vaccine movement was threatening us all. But Offit also knew that, all too often, many in the U.S. public do not trust, or even understand, science or scientists. Increasingly, they trust what celebrities, politicians and advocates say. That particular interview went well. But many – for Offit and other scientists – do not. Exasperated with what he is seeing, Offit explores the current state of affairs for scientists, and why is it harming our nation, in his latest book, his 11th, Bad Advice: Or Why Celebrities, Politicians and Activists Aren’t Your Best Source of Health Information. … [Read more...] about 5 questions: Why celebrities and politicians aren’t the best source of health information
Healthix Announces Waiving Connection Fees to Support Physician Adoption and Integration with Health Information Exchange
Time limited sensitive no-fee waivers offer for physician practices available through September 30. Additional incentive funding from New York State DOH also available to eligible practices. /EIN News/ -- New York, NY, Aug. 14, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- New York, August 1, 2018 – In an initiative to afford independent physician practices an opportunity to fully participate in the Statewide Health Information Network for New York (SHIN-NY), Healthix has removed financial barriers associated with integrating electronic medical records (EMRs) by waiving the cost of connecting with the Health Information Exchange (HIE). Physicians who act by September 30, 2018 can avoid connection costs and realize thousands of dollars in savings by signing on as a participant in Healthix. Additional funding incentives of up to $13,000 per eligible practice are also available from the State’s Data Exchange Incentive Program (DEIP) and SHIN-NY Connections Initiative (SCI) through Healthix. … [Read more...] about Healthix Announces Waiving Connection Fees to Support Physician Adoption and Integration with Health Information Exchange
How Times Reporters Use the Freedom of Information Act
Sections SEARCH Skip to content Skip to site index Times Insider Subscribe Log In Subscribe Log In Advertisement Supported by ByJake Lucas July 21, 2018 Times Insider delivers behind-the-scenes insights into how news, features and opinion come together at The New York Times. Scott Pruitt’s resignation as head of the Environmental Protection Agency this month was preceded by a steady drumbeat of revelatory stories — from The Times and others — about his misuse of government resources. Some of the most remarkable of those stories were underpinned by information obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA. The law, first enacted in 1966, and significantly strengthened after Watergate in 1974, gives the public the right to access records from any federal agency, with a handful of exceptions, and states have similar open-records laws that grant the same general right at the local level. “In the … [Read more...] about How Times Reporters Use the Freedom of Information Act
For health care providers, safeguarding patients’ electronic health information is also an employment matter
Safeguarding patients' electronic health information is an employment matter Q: In preparation for an employee or other members of a health care company's workforce quitting, what preventive steps can be taken to ensure that patients' health information is protected? A: Two particular measures are critical to health care providers, in their role as employers, to protect the private patient information. Those are preparation and training. First, advance preparation is essential. Administrative, technical and physical safeguards are mandated by HIPAA (the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) and its amendments, and just as we recommend with regard to all types of health care compliance and regulations, a compliance plan should be in place to provide security for protected health information electronically maintained. The person responsible for a health care practice or company's IT should perform periodic risk assessments, and sufficient access termination procedures … [Read more...] about For health care providers, safeguarding patients’ electronic health information is also an employment matter