While organizations should focus on performing regular risk assessments and analyses, there are also other ways in which they must review their systems for compliance. Often, these other evaluations are overlooked despite their value, says Kevin Beaver, CISSP, an information security consultant in Atlanta. In particular, organizations should be careful not to forget about performing vulnerability assessments and penetration tests, which are components of an overall risk assessment or analysis, says Beaver, who is a BOH editorial advisory board member.
RC.01.01.01, Content of the Medical Record, did not top the list of the survey findings for hospitals in the first half of 2014, according to the September 2014 issue of Joint Commission Perspectives. Nor was it on the list for critical access hospitals at all! However, 49% of hospitals surveyed received a requirement for improvement for this standard, primarily in the EPs related to timing and dating entries. This indicates hospitals are still using a lot of paper records. That said, the downward swing is encouraging as more and more hospitals fully implement the EMR.
As the new year kicks off, many opt to make resolutions for the months ahead. BOH asked some privacy and security professionals to share their best tips for a productive 2015. What advice would they offer others in the industry to ensure the year ahead is a success?
MRB asked HIM and release of information (ROI) professionals about their ROI practices for its first quarterly benchmarking survey of 2015. (The survey was completed in October 2014.) Half of survey respondents are HIM directors or managers (52%). Other respondents identified themselves as non-managerial HIM staff members (18%) or ROI directors or managers (4%). The majority of respondents (65%) work in hospitals.
