infrastructure report news from FierceHealthIT
NewsVA plans tougher security for portable storage
In theory, the idea should have taken root long ago--after all, encryption isn't exactly bleeding edge technology. But good timing or not, the VA has finally set plans to require all portable storage Read more...
GAO warns of widespread ID security breaches
The reports detailing federal data security holes keep rolling in, but somehow, nobody seems to be Read more...
Army plans wireless handhelds for battlefield medicsThe Army will soon dole out ruggedized wireless handhelds to thousands of battlefield medics, that they'll use largely to capture and transmit basic information useful in caring for wounded soldiers. As part of its $750 million Medical Communications for Combat Casualty Care program, Army personnel working in combat zones like Iraq and Afghanistan have already gotten 19,000 laptops, handhelds and related systems. Medics will now be getting Motorola MC70 devices, thousands of which will be … Read more...VA could spend $20M on data breach responseIt looks like a recent data breach suffered by the Department of Veterans Affairs could be very pricey. Officials continue to deal with the recent loss of a hard drive, which disappeared from a VA medical center in Birmingham, AL in January of this year. The disk contained confidential data on any U.S. doctor billed Medicaid or Medicare through 2004, as well as more than 500,000 VA patients. To … Read more...Pentagon, VA say EMRs are years awayWhile it might help the agencies free up resources to care for injured soldiers, it could be years before the Pentagon and the VA will be able to install a shared care management system. That's the word from senior officials, including assistant defense secretary for health affairs Stephen Jones and VA acting principal undersecretary for health Gerald Cross. A presidential task force investigating poor outpatient treatment at the Walter Reed Army Medical … Read more...VA faces more security criticismsVA officials faced some severe criticism from members of Congress last week after admitting that the agency's IT security still leaves much to be desired. Under fire last week at a hearing of the House Veterans Affairs oversight committee, the officials confessed that they're basically not in control of the situation. Not only has the VA's data security been breached repeatedly, officials don't know how a recent breach in Birmingham, AL took place and still haven't informed all of the … Read more...GAO: Gov't HIT efforts lack privacy, securityNot only have federal health IT efforts left major holes in security and privacy policy, it's going to be difficult and expensive to fix the problem, too, according to a new GAO report. The watchdog organization would like to see HHS establish rules and project milestones which make sure that the exchange of digital health information between providers nationwide is secure and protects patient privacy. These rules should take into account individual state laws and specify the amount of … Read more... |
