ABSTRACT
Healthcare represents a significant segment of the US economy. This chapter discusses some issues related to the digitization of health sector and summarizes regulations Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) that started the digitization. It details the three-step evolution of digital records: adoption of electronic health records (EHRs), EHR-to-EHR information exchange, and EHR–personal health record (PHR) information exchange. The challenges and opportunities introduced by mobile devices are presented. The chapter reviews the ransomware attacks and disaster recovery plans (DRPs) as a countermeasure. The HIPAA security rule intends to safeguard the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of all electronic protected health information (ePHI) by securing any individually identifiable health information during electronic or digital storage, processing, or transmission. The HIPAA enforcement rule contains provisions relating to compliance and investigations, the imposition of civil money penalties for violations of the HIPAA administrative simplification rules, and procedures for hearings.
