Health Information Management

New law requires VA to beef up data security

HIPAA Weekly Advisor, January 8, 2007

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The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) must promptly notify veterans of data breaches and introduce a host of measures to improve information security, according to a bill President Bush signed into law December 22, 2006, reports Government Computer News (GCN).

The Veterans Benefits, Health Care and Information Technology Act of 2006 comes on the heels of several high-profile VA data breaches, including a laptop theft in May that put more than 26 million veterans at risk of identity theft.

The act requires the VA to

  • provide fraud alerts, credit monitoring services, and identity theft insurance to victims of data breaches
  • present Congress with data breach analyses and reports on information security

Click here to read the GCN article.



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