January Workshop to Focus on Safeguarding Health Care Information

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), in conjunction with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), is sponsoring a one-day workshop on security standards for safeguarding Electronic Protected Health Information (ePHI) as specified by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). As defined by HIPAA, ePHI is any protected health information that is created, stored, transmitted, or received electronically. The conference will focus on the HIPAA Security Rule, which specifies physical, technical, and administrative methods for protecting the electronic health information of individuals. It will be held on Jan. 16, 2008, at the NIST campus in Gaithersburg, Md.

The intended audience comprises professionals spanning both health care and information technology, including HIPAA rule implementers, privacy, compliance and security officers, and audit staff. Attendees will discuss challenges, tips, techniques and issues for implementing, adhering to and auditing the requirements of the HIPAA Security Rule.

The keynote speaker will be Anthony Trenkle, director of the CMS Office of E-Health Standards and Services. CMS is an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Attendees will also discuss the update to NIST Special Publication 800-66, An Introductory Resource Guide for Implementing the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Security Rule (http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/800-66/SP800-66.pdf).

Web registration for the workshop closes on Jan. 9, 2008, although attendees will be allowed to register by phone up until the time of the conference. For more information, go to [link removed].