Google Apps for Government receives federal authorization to operate from GSA

Google announced today that its public-sector focused cloud computing service, Google Apps for Government, successfully completed a security certification and accreditation (C&A) process and received an authorization to operate (ATO) from the General Services Administration. This…

Health IT policy intensifies focus on consent

While there were several informative presentations and topics addressed at the monthly meeting of the Health IT Policy Committee today, the recommendations from the Privacy and Security Tiger Team on adoption of fair information practices and,…

Significant work remains to produce standards and rules on accounting of disclosures for PHI

The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act passed as part of the Recovery Act in February 2009 included a variety of revisions included to requirements already in effect under the HIPAA Security…

Wisconsin court ruling addresses a different aspect of privacy and personal e-mails

A Wisconsin state supreme court ruling issued last week adds another dimension to the current debate over employee expectations of privacy in personal communications using employer-provided means. In this case, a group of teachers in the…

Consensus exists on importance of security and privacy in health IT; some offer rosy view on current state of technology

With all the focus over the last few weeks in the government health community on the publication of numerous proposed and final rules related to provisions in the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health…

It’s hard to be confident in unambiguous usage of “trust”

One of the consistent challenges with researching and writing about trust is separating the sociological and economic and organizational meanings of the word trust from the everyday uses of the term, whether in business or social…

Small but significant changes in meaningful use rules simplify compliance

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today announced the release of final versions of its rule on meaningful use and its electronic health record (EHR) incentive program and associated health IT standards and certification…