HIPAA Blog


HIPAA Blog describes itself as "a discussion of medical privacy issues buried in political arcana." HIPAA is an acronym for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996.

Author: The author is Jeff Drummond, described on other blawgs as a lawyer who represents hospitals and health care entities.

Blawg Related Categories: Health Law • Media & Communications Law

Recent Posts from HIPAA Blog


  • Healthcare Reform: Here's a great article. The key point is #3 (which is the point I've made over and over again): the problems with the American healthcare system are the result of OPM ("other people's…

  • Speaking of Medical Records: Check out Bob Coffield's blog for a paper medical record, circa 1030. Pretty cool.

  • EMRs: A study says they don't save money, either. Of course, if you're a physician practice that takes Medicare, you'll lose money if you don't adopt one. D'ya ever notice whenever the government puts unnatural…

  • EMRs: the privacy concerns connected with electronic medical records seem to be getting greater and more visible play these days. There is, no doubt, a trade-off in privacy whenever medical information is in electronic format.

  • What to do in case of a breach: I've done a lousy job of keeping up with this, but this is the last part of a really nice series by Dom Nicastro on how to…

  • EMRs: So far, the benefits of switching to electronic medical records aren't exactly overwhelming. Something to keep in mind when the debate over healthcare reform starts to overheat.

  • Ready for HITECH? You are alone, according to this survey. 94% of healthcare entities aren't ready for the February 2010 effective date of the HITECH revisions to HIPAA. Caution, it's a small sample size, but…

  • What if Quizno's Were Run Like Healthcare? This is pretty funny, and goes a long way to explain what's wrong with the healthcare system.

  • Anthem BCBS (Connecticut) Data Breach: I noted below that Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield had a laptop stolen that had data on about 18,000 doctors, including some social security numbers (not PHI, though, so it's…

  • Interesting Georgia personal representative decision: Well, interesting if you're a HIPAA geek. The Georgia Supreme Court has ruled that a spouse of a deceased person is that person's "personal representative" for HIPAA purposes. It seems…