Top 7 trends in health information privacy for 2011

A panel of healthcare experts predict that as health information exchanges are formed, patient records will be at risk of unauthorized access, data breaches, and identity theft. The experts suggest that the healthcare industry is not keeping up with technological advancements and best practices in data security and governance. They predict increased fines and regulatory action, increased data breaches and associated costs, and heightened patient awareness of data security. They also believe that a significant data breach will bring national attention to the issue and that the finalization of data breach notification rules could create a risk of over-notification.