ADVISORY/ OpenNetwork Technologies HIPAA Expert Available for Comment On Impact of New Healthcare Regulations.

Business/Technology Editors

ADVISORY...for Friday (Aug. 18)

--(BW HealthWire)

WHAT: The Department of Health and Human Services has published
    regulations that set standards for accessing, sharing and securing
    online patient information and healthcare claims. According to the
    HHS, these standards are expected to save the healthcare industry
    $29.9 billion over a decade by standardizing these processes.

WHY: Healthcare organizations across the country are going to have to
    rewire their entire information technology systems and redefine
    processes for information access and security. This law will not
    only affect healthcare organizations but also every entity that
    interacts with those organizations. All types of companies
    involved with medical information must adapt their technology in
    order to comply with the new law. Unfortunately, many
    organizations are ill prepared for what some are calling the "Y2K
    of Healthcare." Facing major technological hurdles to update and
    innovate and severe civil penalties for HIPAA violations, these
    organizations are finding themselves in a very uncomfortable
    situation.

WHO: David Sweigert, director of HIPAA programs for OpenNetwork
    Technologies(R). OpenNetwork is working with nine different Blue
    Cross Blue Shield organizations across the country to bring their
    technology into HIPAA compliance. Sweigert is able to discuss the
    impact of these laws on the industry as a whole and also the
    specific technology requirements of independent organizations as
    they develop HIPAA compliant systems.

    Sweigert is a member of the American Bar Association's Information
    Security Committee and is also a member of the Electronic Health
    Record Subcommittee E31.17 for Privacy, Confidentiality and
    Access.