Healthcare industry leaders are due to convene next week for the 23rd National HIPAA Summit at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, DC. The Summit, taking place between March 16-18, provides delegates with an opportunity to find out more about the progress that has been made with HIPAA over the past 12 months and can receive in depth training on HIPAA compliance and gain a better understanding of the issues currently faced by the healthcare industry.
This is the 23rd National HIPAA Summit, although there have been 31 meetings since the bill was originally introduced back in 1996. Since then there have been major changes made in the healthcare industry, in particular the transition from paper medical records to EHRs. Along the way there have been a number of obstacles to overcome, but the industry has now largely made the transition and it is believed that 96% of non-federal healthcare providers have now implemented EHRs, with the total for office physicians standing at 78%.
Data privacy and security have been major concerns since the move to digital data. Electronic health records are easier to steal and hackers are targeting the data held by healthcare providers due to the value of the information on the black market. The data can be used to commit numerous types of fraud, such as making fraudulent tax returns and Medicare claims.
Cybersecurity is naturally a major focus of the Summit and advice and best practices will be discussed to help covered entities remain compliant and avoid HIPAA data breaches. Two roundtable meetings have been scheduled for the conference where the most pressing HIPPA issues will be discussed. Privacy, Security and Compliance Officers are invited to attend to discuss the issues had with transitioning to EHRs. They will also receive practical guidance on a wide range of compliance matters. Attendees can also sign up for HIPAA Academy Professional Certification Training at the conference with a number of sessions being run that will provide credits.
At this year’s National HIPAA Summit there will be a number of keynote speakers in attendance, which include Jocelyn Samuels – the current head of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights; Denesecia Green from the Baltimore office of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services; Lucia Savage from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT and Harlan Research Professor of Law and author of The Digital Person: Technology, and Privacy in the Information Age, Daniel J. Solove.