Privacy and security in today's health society

Whether we're talking about Nadya Suleman (the "Octo Mom"), Britney Spears, or John Doe, patient privacy has been a big concern in recent years. Between security breaches and lack of HHS regulation, there always appear to be gaping holes to fill. And with medical identity theft on the rise, more needs to be done, and sooner. 

So who needs to do what? While the Government Accountability Office holds the Department of Health and Human Services responsible, at a more basic level, patients hold doctors responsible. After all, it's not just private health information that's in danger; personal financial information is just as vulnerable to being lifted and utilized improperly. 

Saturday's opening keynote by ecfirst Healthcare Consulting CEO Uday Pabrai will address several of those concerns. Pabrai will talk about several recent examples of security breaches, and how organizations can get up to speed, compliance-wise for new regulations in this field. On Sunday, April 5 at 9:45 a.m., William Bernstein of Manatt Health Solutions and Sharon Terry of Genetic Alliance will discuss benefits and pitfalls of expanding consumer control over personal health data.

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