Navigating the new world of social media is challenging for many professions, but perhaps none more so than the medical profession, where physicians and other healthcare professionals must balance a tell-all online culture with the HIPAA Privacy Rule's mandate to protect patient privacy.
Technology is changing rapidly, and it's creating big challenges for healthcare organizations when it comes to protecting PHI. Privacy and security officers should keep an eye on these changes-from more mobile devices to social media to cloud computing-over the next several months, according to a group of industry prognosticators.
They are becoming as common in healthcare as a stethoscope draped around a physician's neck. Check the pocket of a doctor's white coat, and you're likely to find a mobile device, whether it be a tablet computer or a smartphone.
