Medical Data Security Increasing Concern For ACOs

As more providers adopt accountable care models--and take on the responsibility of facilitating medical data exchange--healthcare leaders are under increasing pressure to protect personal health information (PHI). In fact, two-thirds of healthcare organizations that belong to an ACO believe privacy and security risks have increased, according to a recent Ponemon Institute study.

MHMD Memorial Hermann Physician Network, an ACO in Houston affiliated with the Memorial Hermann health system, has developed a provider agreement with their physicians that emphasizes HIPAA-compliant data sharing and assesses security risk for physicians, according to an iHealthBeat article.

"We run security audits for them so they can quality for those incentives," Shawn Griffin, chief quality and informatics officer for the ACO, told the publication...