HCCA Compliance Institute Preview: Hot Topics in Privacy & Security

Remember the 80s (and willing to admit to it)? There was a song with a line that went: "living in the wild, wild west".

That lyric was running through my mind when I was putting together my presentation for the HCCA conference. We're living in the Wild West these days when it comes to both regulatory and technical standards.

Think about it – on the regulatory side, we've got:

• HITECH. The statute was effective back in 2009. Rules were released in 2010, and made their way over to OMB a few short weeks ago.
• Accounting of Disclosures. The rule was released May 31, 2011, almost a year ago. All we know if that there were many, many comments.
• Breach Notification. An interim final rule was released in 2009, and was withdrawn in 2010, after rumored Congressional displeasure.

On the technical side, ONC's website says that it is working to ensure that the technical foundations of the nationwide health information network will achieve trust and integrate best practices for privacy and security, but beyond the Framework, there's little available in the way of guidance. There's not even guidance available yet around use of social media, though Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter. Pinterest – you name it – is now increasingly used by health care providers.

And, as we all know, the sheriff's in town. OCR's audit program; Cignet; Mass General, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee – and in the past couple of weeks, a 5-physician practice in Arizona. The sheriff is in town, and he or she isn't playing games any more.

I will share more of my musical musings at HCCA on Sunday. Hope to see you there.

Join Chris and others at HCCAci session P4 - April 29, 2012 at 9:00:AM - for Hot Topics in Privacy & Security

Chris Apgar, CEO and President, Apgar & Associates, LLC, Portland, OR
Martin Edwards, HIPAA Compliance Director, Dell Healthcare and Life Sciences, Dallas, TX
Meredith Phillips, Chief Privacy Officer, Henry Ford Health System, Detroit, MI
Mahmood Sher-Jan, Vice President, Product Management, ID Experts, Portland, OR