Security
A panel of healthcare experts representing privacy, trends, technology, regulatory, data breach and governance have identified the top seven trends in healthcare information privacy for 2011.
"This year, significant strides were made in health information technology," David Blumenthal, MD, the national health IT coordinator, wrote in his blog detailing health IT achievements for 2010.
The Veterans Affairs Department is wrestling with how to let physicians securely use popular external sites that enable them to store patient data online, such as Google and Yahoo, while ensuring that veterans' health information is adequately protected.
The Alaska eHealth Network, Alaska's statewide health information exchange, has tapped Santa Monica, Calif.-based Orion Health as its primary technology provider, with the purchase Orion's HIE solution. AeHN will deploy the technology as a hosted, software-as-a-service model.
Seventy-five hospitals/medical centers have been named to Security magazine's "2010 Security 500" list, which recognizes organizations worldwide for best-managed security practices.
The White House has called for a "universal exchange language" to enable healthcare providers to share health information in real time, in order to modernize and coordinate diagnosis and treatment while incorporating privacy and security of personal data.
Social media tools may prove an effective way to boost participation in online health programs, according to researchers at the University of Michigan Medical School.
The real barrier to adoption of personal health records is not privacy and security, but rather the unwillingness of healthcare data sources to give consumers control over their health information, Dossia CEO Colin Evans told a government panel recently.
In September, Healthcare IT News explained how one lawsuit against a nascent health information exchange could be a sign of things to come as states get their own HIEs up and running.
In the wake of increased healthcare IT adoption, this year saw increased focus on patient privacy.