Government & Policy

The Office for Civil Rights, the HHS division responsible for enforcing HIPAA, is slated to get a new director after the official departure of Leon Rodriguez.

Both the American Medical Association and the Medical Group Management Association want extra time for eligible professionals to submit for a meaningful use hardship exemption.

Lygeia Ricciardi is the latest employee to leave the Office of the National Coordinator.

Lygeia Ricciardi, the first director of the Office of Consumer eHealth at ONC, will step down on July 25, National Coordinator KarenDeSalvo, MD, announced in an email to ONC staff.

More than 60 percent of all industries worldwide embrace BYOD, says Mac McMillan, CEO of the information security company CynergisTek and chairman of the HIMSS Privacy and Security Task Force. In healthcare, that number stands at around 85 percent, with 92 percent of that number saying personal mobile devices are in use multiple times every day.

The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services has launched a federal probe into HIPAA privacy violations at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, according to an HHS spokesperson.

With an eye on accountability and technology, the department revealed one hire and a pair of brand new high-visibility positions.

Politics and poor management led to the breakdown of the government's health insurance website HealthCare.gov during its launch and in subsequent weeks, a new Senate report concludes.

The American Hospital Association has called upon the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Office of the National Coordinator to quickly finalize rules regarding the expansion of choice for certified electronic health records.

Republican Texas Representative Michael Burgess, MD, vice-chair of the subcommittee on health within the House Energy and Commerce Committee, had not always been convinced of the benefits of health IT. But Hurricane Katrina changed his mind. Today, Burgess is a champion.