Non-Compliant Portals Could Put Patient Privacy, Physicians at-Risk

Could non-HIPAA compliant medical chat rooms/ portals be putting physicians and their patients at-risk? Fred Zolla, CEO and President of Vemics, Inc., has serious concerns that this might be the case. “An explosion has begun in the medical health record space,” said Zolla. “But, as with every revolution, technology providers need to undertake an added layer of responsibility and awareness. In the medical health record space, we owe it to the healthcare community and the numerous patients they serve to provide HIPAA-compliant spaces.”

On October 10th, Vemics launched iMedicor – the health industry’s first, free, HIPAA compliant online personal health data exchange and secure messaging portal for physician collaboration, community and referrals. HIPAA, which stands for the American Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, is a set of strict rules to be followed by doctors, hospitals and other health care providers concerning the handling and privacy protection of vital patient medical data. Violations can result in serious fines or, in extreme cases, imprisonment.

iMedicor’s proprietary HIPAA-compliant technology and ability to enable health providers to exchange medical record data, x-rays, mammography, etc. are what distinguishes it from the chat-room-style portals for doctors currently in existence. “A looming danger exists for health providers on this type of portal,” says Zolla. “Physicians can inadvertently violate HIPAA rules and subject themselves to tremendous liability. With all the extra tools out there now for the health care community - choosing which online tools to use is more important than ever in light of patient privacy concerns, liability for doctors, for their legal counsel in advising them, and health care insurers in general.”

The launch of iMedicor’s portal comes on the heels of some of the world’s most influential companies entering the valuable personal health record (PHR) space. “Especially with Microsoft and Google entering the fray, we see multiple opportunities to partner with these important companies in the PHR area and create dynamic physician-sharing interfaces using iMedicor's proprietary HIPAA compliant system,” says Zolla.

Some of iMedicor’s features include:

• HIPAA compliant personal health information exchange, including documents & images
• An online referral and consultation community
• An expansive multi-specialty video and text based CME / CEU catalog
• A voice recognition driven medical documentation system
• Medical association section for regular interaction between associations and constituents.
• Access to healthcare-specific blogs and forums
• An events section that gives members and participating organizations the ability to publish up-coming events to gain exposure
• A practice improvement section that offers courses and information on better practice management

Through iMedicor, physicians will be able to securely communicate with other doctors, sharing HIPAA compliant patient files, records and images quickly and safely. The portal can also help doctors tap corresponding services from other professionals in the medical industry. Moreover, the portal environment allows for fundamental document creation and management tasks in a user-friendly, online environment. Costly transcription services and tedious handwritten documentation can actually be eliminated through iMedicor’s voice recognition advanced technology. iMedicor will also be a repository for Continuing Medical Education certified courses and non-certified and product specific educational resources made available to any registered member on a non-intrusive opt in basis.