Be extra careful when verbally releasing patient-specific information.  Remember to make sure you are speaking to or releasing information to authorized individuals.  Always be aware of your immediate surroundings before speaking.

In February of last year, the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) gave state attorneys general the power to prosecute HIPAA privacy and security violations at the state level.  In what may be the first time this power is exercised, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal on January 13, 2010 filed a lawsuit charging Heath Net of Connecticut Inc. with violations of the HIPAA privacy and security rules following a large breach of identifiable medical records and Social Security numbers.

A PHNS HIPAA Hero is someone who exemplifies privacy and security in his/her everyday work and who leads others by example.  The PHNS Regulatory Compliance Department would like to recognize these individuals who demonstrate the highest level of privacy and security protections for PHNS' and PHNS' customers' patients information as PHNS HIPAA Heroes.

Learn about new data security risks and challenges with Brian Perry - Senior Director of Information Security and Security Officer, PHNS and Bill Braithwaite, MD, PhD - Chief Medical officer, Anakam, Inc. This webcast was sponsored by PGP Corporation on December 2, 2009.  A webcast replay is available on their web site at  http://www.pgp.com/insight/multimedia/webcasts/index.html.