Industry coalition launches health IT security plan

A coalition of more than 50 healthcare companies and technology vendors on Monday unveiled a common security framework designed to be a benchmark for safeguarding the privacy of electronic medical records. The Obama administration is encouraging broader use of electronic records in the United States with the aim of reducing medical errors, eliminating redundant testing and saving money overall. But patient privacy concerns, a rise in security breaches in information technology and a lack of widely accepted security standards have been stumbling blocks. The coalition's plan creates guidelines for addressing the security and regulatory aspects of establishing a broad network for the exchange of electronic health records.