More Patient Data Risks, Lawsuits Predicted In 2012

[security curmudgeon <jericho () attrition org>]

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From: InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews org>

http://www.informationweek.com/news/healthcare/security-privacy/232301516

By Nicole Lewis
InformationWeek
January 09, 2012

According to experts in healthcare law and information privacy and 
security, healthcare IT managers can expect to see more patient data 
breaches in 2012, along with more lawsuits filed by patients as the 
availability of patient information exchanged over social media sites and 
mobile devices grows.

These conclusions, published by ID Experts, offer a glimpse into what 
health CIOs can expect as they seek to protect patient data during a year 
that promises more of the same challenges they faced last year. In 2011, 
the healthcare industry had its fair share of patient data breaches, and 
the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services? Office for Civil Rights 
(OCR) stepped up its oversight activities, handing down fines to 
healthcare organizations that were lax in meeting their patient privacy 
obligations.

Rick Kam, president and co-founder of ID Experts and chair of the American 
National Standard Institute?s (ANSI?s) PHI Project, gave InformationWeek 
Healthcare his assessment of the forecasts, noting that "the thread that 
links all of the predictions together is safeguarding. Protected health 
information (PHI) is truly a patient safety issue, and healthcare data 
breaches will reach epidemic proportions this year if precautions are not 
taken."

On the legal front, Kirk Nahra, partner at the law firm Wiley Rein LLP, 
predicts that the number of class-action lawsuits will increase in 2012 as 
patients sue healthcare organizations for failing to protect their health 
information.

[...]
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