Sensitive Data and the Pharmacy Industry
By Kat Sanders of Pharmacy Technician Certification
There is a surfeit of Information today, and although we have come up with ways and means to store them for eternity, we are still not able to ensure their security. Information is valuable only as long as it remains protected, and once in the hands of people who are likely to misuse it, it turns into a recipe for disaster.
ISR News: New HIPAA Security Rules Issued
Excerpts From AAFP.org
According to provisions in the legislation, physicians now will be required to track any disclosure of a patient’s medical information. Previous regulations allowed physicians to disclose patient information for the purpose of treatment, payment or health care operations, but they were not required to track when that information was disclosed.
HIPAA Privacy & Security Update Webinar
Press Release:
Catch up on the latest amendments, enforcement trends and other HIPAA Privacy & Data Security Rule developments by participating in the “HIPAA Privacy & Security Update Teleconference” on March 25, 2009 hosted by Solutions Law Press. Learn what you and your organization need to know to comply with new requirements and manage HIPAA compliance while getting valuable training that will help your organization document its efforts to comply with HIPAA’s training requirements.
ISR News: Sprint Employee Stole Client Data
Excerpts From the Washington Post
“It appears this employee may have provided customer information to a third party in violation of Sprint policy and state law. We have terminated this employee. The information that may have been compromised includes your name, address, wireless phone number, Sprint account number, the answer to your security question, and the name of the authorized point of contact on your account.”
ISR News: The Cyberspace Monroe Doctrine
Excerpts From Security Focus
“The advantages of invoking a Monroe-like Doctrine in cyberspace would be to put the world on notice that the U.S. has cyber ‘turf,’ … and the second is that we will defend our turf,” Davidson told the House Subcommittee on Emerging Threats, Cybersecurity, and Science and Technology in a prepared statement. “We need to do both — now.” Such a policy would not mean the militarization of cyberspace, Davidson stressed.
ISR News: HIPAA and Your Health Records
Excerpts From Search Security
Healthcare is unique in that storage of electronic health records is highly distributed between primary care physicians, specialist doctors, hospitals, and insurance/HMO organizations. Information has to be efficiently shared among these entities with great sensitivity towards patient privacy and legitimate claims processing. Patients want to prevent over zealous employers from performing unauthorized background checks on medical history; claim processors want to prevent paying fraudulent claims arising from targeted patient identity theft.
ISR News: HIPAA Has New Teeth
Excerpts From SearchSecurity.com
CVS Caremark Corp has agreed to pay $2.25 million to settle a federal investigation into allegations that it violated HIPAA privacy regulations when pharmacy employees threw items such as pill bottles with patient information into the trash.
