Melamedia Seminar Focuses on Vetting Prospective Healthcare Employees to Increase Data Protection
ALEXANDRIA, Va. - (BUSINESS WIRE) - April 18, 2006 - Healthcare experts agree that the biggest threat to patient privacy and data security is an organization's workforce. While, healthcare entities have substantial discretion, they also have little regulatory guidance or certainty in developing effective programs to determine that prospective employees will adequately protect protected health information.

The HIPAA security rule, for example, requires healthcare organizations to develop reasonable security and training measures, but says little about hiring practices.

States, however, have been active in this area. For example, Michigan requires criminal background checks for workers in long-term care and nursing home facilities.

To help healthcare organizations develop standards for hiring workers, Melamedia's Health Information Privacy/Security Alert is sponsoring a 90-minute audio seminar on May 24:

Protecting Patient Data at the Front Door: Vetting Prospective Employees for HIPAA and Other Data Protection Laws

Participants will be briefed on:
-- Why the importance of vetting prospective employees goes beyond HIPAA;
-- Types of questions that should be included in employment applications;
-- The need to include Privacy and Security Officers in employment decisions;
-- The usefulness of different background checks that organizations may use in evaluating prospects;
-- How state and federal laws limit what healthcare employers can ask;
-- The possible need for new Business Associate contracts provisions; and more.

THE FACULTY:

John Parmigiani, President of John C. Parmigiani & Associates, LLC. The former Director of Enterprise Standards for CMS, John was the chairman of the government-wide HIPAA Administrative Simplification Security and Electronic Signature Standards Implementation Team that created the Security Rule.

Christopher Berner, Esq. Labor and Employment Counsel for Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, which has more than 12,000 physicians and associates.

Barry J. Nadell, President of InfoLink Screening Services, a national provider of employment background checks. Barry is on the board of directors of the National Association of Professional Background Screeners. He assisted the California Legislature in amending legislation affecting how employers can protect consumers from identity theft while protecting themselves when requesting pre-employment background
checks.

Who Should Attend:
-- HIPAA Privacy & Security Officers
-- HR Professionals
-- Healthcare search firms
-- Healthcare Executives
-- Risk Managers
-- Business Associates
-- Healthcare Providers
-- Researchers
-- Health Plans
-- Clearinghouses
-- Healthcare Lawyers and Consultants

Register online at http://www.melamedia.com
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