Assessing the effects of the HIPAA privacy rule on release of patient information by healthcare facilities.

The HIPAA privacy rule (HIPAA) has had both positive and negative effects on the release of patient information by healthcare facilities. Although the intention of HIPAA was to protect patient privacy and to promote security and confidentiality of patient information, it has had unintended consequences for facilities. To identify some of these unintended effects, two expert panels of health information management directors from healthcare facilities participated in the nominal group technique meetings.

Are we preparing health services administration students to respond to bioterrorism and mass casualty management?

Bioterrorism/natural disaster events add significant specialized demands and disrupt normal operation of the health system, often for an indefinite period of time. Health administration leaders should be educationally prepared for and informed about these potential events, but few receive this knowledge via their academic preparation in health administration. This study examined the existence of coverage of bioterrorism topics in health administration curricula and characteristics of bioterrorism coverage in current health administration programs through a self-completed survey among AUPHA graduate and undergraduate program members.