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Tip: Adopt user agreements to protect portable devices, media

EHR Connection, March 17, 2008

Portable devices and media such as laptop computers, PDAs, USB flash drives, CD-ROMs and Blackberries are a fact of life in today's business environment, but they present special challenges for healthcare organizations that must ensure that PHI remains secure.

Consider conducting a risk analysis to facilitate development of a user agreement that will help reduce the risk of security threats. Areas of concern to address in user agreements include, but are not limited to:

  • Firewalls
  • Up-to-date antivirus software
  • Spyware/adware protection
  • Secure, sign-on passwords
  • Tracking devices
  • Periodic risk analyses

Implementing user agreements is important, but encouraging and facilitating user compliance through education is equally so.

This tip comes from the March issue of Briefings on HIPAA.

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