Experts Help Healthcare Industry Remove the 'Cryptic' from 'Encryption'

ANN ARBOR (WWJ) -- With events taking place across the country to mark the important role health information technology plays in improving healthcare delivery in America, Online Tech is observing National Health IT Week by presenting a free educational webinar.

April Sage, director of the healthcare vertical and marketing at Online Tech, will be joined by attorney Brian Balow of Dickinson Wright Law Firm to present "Removing the 'Cryptic' from 'Encryption' -- HIPAA and the Meaning of Secure PHI" at 2 p.m. Eastern time Tuesday, Sept. 17.

The webinar will review the HIPAA Breach Notification Rule and specifically its carve-out for encrypted Protected Health Information (PHI). While seemingly straightforward, the implementation of the U.S. Department of Health & Human services encryption standards raises a host of questions for covered entities and business associates.

Those questions will be addressed by Balow (who concentrates his practice in the areas of information technology, healthcare law, and intellectual property) and Sage (who has been involved in the IT industry for more than two decades, initially founding a technology vocational program).

Attendees will also be encouraged to participate so the experts can discuss "real-world" challenges.

With its encrypted HIPAA compliant hosting, Online Tech is a business associate of a number of healthcare-related clients and shares in their commitment to ensure health information technology is integrated, interactive, interoperable and intelligent to provide the best patient outcomes.

The eighth annual National Health IT Week is being celebrated Sept. 16-20. Health information technology improves the quality of healthcare delivery, increases patient safety, decreases medical errors, and strengthens the interaction between patients and healthcare providers.

For more information on the webinar and its presenters, and to register, visit www.onlinetech.com/events.