AskTheExperts

Information Governance: will breaches be enforced?

The federal agencies have long spoken of enforcing breaches, but only one is on record to date. The fear does not seem to be the burning platform that HIPAA implementation was 5 + years ago. Routine audits are conducted, no new ground seems to be broken by institutions to assess their vulnerability. Information Governance umbrella HIPAA, related state statutes, identity theft, credit protection, and the like. It is the essence of public trust: to maintain their confidentiality as the workplace has evolved from paper to electronic. Have you tested your system lately? You probably should.

Healthcare IT: where will the funding come from?

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology was established in 2004. A truly unfunded mandate, there was an Executive Order that limited the federal funding for this vital office. Before even assuming office, President-Elect Obama has received a funding request of $25B from the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society. Mr. Obama has already gone on record in favor of committing $10B over a five year period for healthcare IT. Vice President-Elect Biden has spoken about these funds being made available in an economic stimulus package soon after the swearing-in. Proponents of healthcare IT are truly banking on these promises, and patient care improvements await these expenditures.