Featured Report: Prison Time for Health Data Theft

Healthcare Info Security
Jan,23, 2013
by: Marianne Kolbasuk McGee
A former Florida Hospital Celebration emergency department registration clerk has been sentenced for selling patient information he improperly accessed in a breach of thousands of patient records. Dale Munroe II was sentenced on Jan. 18 to 12 months and one day in federal prison. He had been accused of inappropriately accessing 760,000 electronic health records and then stealing and selling information about 12,000 motor vehicle accident patients to a co-conspirator, who used the data to solicit legal and chiropractic business.
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This Week's Healthcare News
iHealthBeat
Most States Updating, Digitizing Medicaid Enrollment Systems
Jan,24,2013
by:Staff
Most states are modernizing their Medicaid enrollment systems as required by the Affordable Care Act, according to a survey released Wednesday by the Kaiser Family Foundation, The Hill's "Healthwatch" reports (Viebeck, "Healthwatch," The Hill, 1/23).

Background
The ACA requires all state Medicaid programs to shift to Web-based enrollment systems by January 2014 (Galewitz, "Capsules," Kaiser Health News, 1/23). The requirement applies to all states, even those that decide not to proceed with the ACA's Medicaid expansion (Kliff, "Wonkblog," Washington Post, 1/23).
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MobiHealthNews
Interoperability holds the key to EHR, mobile health success
Jan,24,2013
by:Neil Versel
Have you seen all the pushback of late against the direction of the “meaningful use” EHR incentive program and EHRs in general? The year started with the publication of a RAND Corp. study in Health Affairs cautioning that health IT had fallen far short of its potential so far. Notably, EHR design and implementation problems, a lack of interoperability and continued reluctance among providers to redesign care processes and spend time trying to “master difficult-to-use technology” has stood in the way of expected cost savings, efficiency gains and better care.
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HealthDataManagement
Attorney: HIPAA Rules Change Game for Cloud Companies
Jan,23, 2013
by: Joseph Goedert
Provisions of the new HIPAA privacy and security rules could change the regulatory landscape for the cloud computing industry, says Robert Belfort, a partner in the health care practice at law firm Manatt, Phelps & Phillips. Many cloud companies have taken the view that they are not business associates under HIPAA, but some of them now will be, Belfort asserts. The rules change the definition of a BA to include any entity that maintains protected health information. An Internet service provider, such as a cloud company, is not a BA if it does not maintain or at times access PHI, but acts as a conduit with data just passing through, he explains. “But a company that maintains data is a BA even if it doesn’t access the data. I think that will have implications for the cloud industry.”
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7 Medical Acquires HealthLink Minnesota Management Group, Inc.
Health IT cloud service provider expands revenue cycle management business

MINNEAPOLIS—January 9 , 2013—7 Medical Systems™, LLC, a leader in on‐demand digital imaging, electronic medical records (EMR) and revenue cycle management (RCM) solutions for healthcare, today announced the closing of its acquisition of HealthLink Minnesota Management Group, Inc. ("HealthLink"), a company providing strategic advisory, business office, operational management and IT services to clinics in the Twin-Cities area.

HealthLink is the second of several planned acquisitions in 7 Medical's growth strategy. Based in Edina, HealthLink has been providing outsourced practice management, administrative operations management, business office and IT services to Twin-Cities healthcare clinics since 1993. The company employs 33 people and also has a data center in Edina.

7 Medical has acquired substantially all of the assets of HealthLink for an undisclosed amount. All employees of both organizations will be retained, and the HealthLink office in Edina will remain intact. After a transition period, the combined company will operate under the name of 7 Medical Systems. HealthLink customers will continue receiving a seamless level of services from the same HealthLink staff, and will have access to value-added cloud-based services from 7 Medical.

"We were looking to expand our revenue cycle management business, and we were already collaborating with HealthLink in terms of shared customers," said Jason Studsrud, chief executive officer of 7 Medical. "It is a really a good fit because RCM is one of HealthLink's core competencies, and their administrative, financial, and practice management consulting services also add significant value to local clinics. Moving forward, customers will have more flexibility in automating workflows and increasing efficiencies in their revenue cycle, EMR and practice management, and imaging across the board."

"We are excited about the growth potential of the two companies combined because of the synergy across the board," said Jeff Schackor, president of HealthLink Minnesota Management Group, Inc. "Our shared customers, markets and strategy moving forward, along with 7 Medical's cloud-based model, makes our combined offerings very powerful for the small and medium healthcare clinic, enabling them to utilize technology and business services to maintain their independence and viability."

HealthLink can be contacted at the same phone and fax numbers, email addresses and physical address. Customers will continue to contact HealthLink Support at 952-843-4343. About 7 MEDICAL SYSTEMS, LLC

7 Medical Systems™, LLC (www.7medical.com) is a leading provider of cloud-based digital imaging, electronic medical records and revenue cycle management solutions for healthcare. The company delivers reliable, affordable cloud computing-based solutions to critical access hospitals, imaging centers, radiology groups and ambulatory clinics. Rather than investing capital to own and manage hardware and software in-house, healthcare facilities outsource these critical functions to 7 Medical.

They trade in hefty capital expenses for more affordable monthly usage fees—paying only for what they use. 7 Medical's clinical project managers enable facilities to efficiently automate workflows and integrate disparate systems to ensure successful integration, implementation and training. On-demand services are available anytime, anywhere, with 24/7 service and support and built-in disaster recovery, from a Type II SAS 70 certified and HIPAA-compliant data center. 7 Medical is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and has a wholly-owned subsidiary in Florianopolis, Brazil.

### Media Contact
Loan D. Gordon
7 Medical Systems, LLC
612.230.7720
lgordon@7medical.com