Healthcare HITECH Privacy and Security Summit Highlights ISSA-LA Fifth Annual Information Security Summit on Cybercrime

LOS ANGELES, CA, April 23, 2013 (Press-News.org) The Los Angeles Chapter of the Information Systems Security Association (ISSA-LA) and the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Southern California, have partnered to hold the Healthcare HITECH Privacy and Security Summit, as part of the ISSA-LA Fifth Annual Information Security Summit, The Growing Cyber Threat: Protect Your Business, to be held all-day on Tuesday, May 21, 2013 at Hilton Universal City Hotel in Los Angeles. The events advance ISSA-LA's core belief that 'It takes the village to secure the village'SM.

The Healthcare HITECH Privacy and Security Summit will bring together leaders in privacy and security within government and private industry for a day of collaboration, networking and presentations by leading privacy and security professionals. Attendees will learn from experts what they need to know to comply with new HIPAA/HITECH rules and OCR investigations.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published the rule January 17, 2013, which modifies the privacy and security, breach notification, and enforcement regulations, now a part of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) . Covered Entities and Business Associates must be in compliance with the final rule by Sept. 23, 2013.

"The Summit is packed with an All-Star cast of speakers, who will share their knowledge and experience to help prepare covered entities and business associates to meet the September 23, 2013 HHS compliance deadline of the final omnibus rule," said Richard Greenberg, Information Security Officer for Los Angeles County Public Health, ISSA Fellow and ISSA-LA Board Member. "You'll hear directly from a wide variety of professionals, including Yun-kyung (Peggy) Lee of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Civil Rights, who will prepare attendees what to do in case of an OCR investigation. We have attorneys, CISOs, a privacy officer, and other experts who will engage with attendees as part of panels on BYOD and Business Associates, and during the roundtable luncheon."

Former White House Cybersecurity Coordinator and Special Assistant to the President Howard Schmidt will be the opening keynote speaker. Other speakers include: Yun-kyung (Peggy) Lee, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, OCR; Tom August, CISSP, Director, Information Security, Sharp Healthcare; Cynthia Marcotte Stamer, JD, Attorney and Executive Director/Founder, Project COPE: The Coalition on Patient Empowerment; Maria Suarez, CISSP, CISM, CISA, Information Security Officer, University of Southern California; Michelle Caswell, JD, Risk & Compliance Consultant, Sword & Shield Enterprise Security; Sriram Bharadwaj, CISSP, Chair - Advocacy and Public Policy, SoCal HIMSS; Jennifer Papp, Privacy Officer, Los Angeles County Department of Health Services; and Katherine Waldron, COO, National Healthcare Information Sharing and Analysis Center.

According to the Open Security Foundation's DataLossDB, which tracks the loss, theft, or exposure of personally identifiable information, out of the 1,520 total incidents reported last year, 327 occurred in the medical industry, making it the most widely breached industry in the United States. Healthcare has been one of China's priorities in its 15-year science and technology development strategy for 2006 to 2020, and has resulted in a surge in campaigns against healthcare firms.

ISSA-LA is the premier catalyst and information source in Los Angeles for improving the practice of information security. The Chapter provides educational programs for information security and IT professionals. The Chapter conducts outreach programs to businesses, financial institutions, nonprofits, governmental agencies, and consumers. ISSA-LA is the founding Chapter of the Information Systems Security Association, an international not-for-profit association of information security professionals and practitioners. For more information or to register for the Healthcare HITECH Privacy and Security Summit, please visit: http://www.issala.org/summit/healthcare-hitech-privacy-and-security-summit .

The agenda can be viewed here: http://www.issala.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Healthcare-Summit-Schedule-7.2.pdf

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