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Becker's 13th Annual Spine, Orthopedic and Pain Management-Driven ASC Conference + The Future of Spine - call (800) 417-2035
A
n analysis by congressional staffers revealed that Google, Twitter,
Yahoo and Advertising.com are among the third parties receiving
information from HealthCare.gov.
The revelation comes after the Associated Press reported Jan. 20 that com-
mercial third parties had access to certain patient information. A group of
eight House and Senate committees and subcommittees wrote a letter Jan.
30 to HHS Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell calling for immediate action on
the website's security vulnerability.
"New and potentially more serious reports now further underscore why
HealthCare.gov implementation failures cannot be simply overlooked — be-
cause they have real consequences for American consumers who visit Health-
Care.gov," the letter read.
The information available to the third parties include visitors' names, loca-
tion and pregnancy status, and would have been available long after the visit
to the website ended because of the cookies the website uses that store data.
CMS defended the information sharing practice in a Jan. 24 blog post, saying
it was using third-party tools to "do important things," but acknowledged
that some of the complaints are warranted. The blog post said the adminis-
tration would take further steps to ensure the safety of information through
encryption. The committees and subcommittees remain unconvinced of the
encryption's efficacy, writing in their letter, "It is not at all clear that this layer
of protection is sufficient."
The letter included a list of questions for HHS, setting a response deadline of
Feb. 13. The questions ask if HHS and CMS knew the information had been
shared, whether the agencies had authorized the third party access, an expla-
nation of what the "third-party tools" it referred to were and a list of all the
personnel involved in the ongoing HealthCare.gov security review.
HealthCare.gov is also under scrutiny for contracts and procurement fail-
ures. The Office of the Inspector General and the HHS released a report on
Jan. 20 as well, highlighting several failures around the development and
security of the website. n
Google, Twitter, Yahoo Among 3rd
Parties Accessing HealthCare.gov Data
By Elizabeth Earl
ADVERTISING INDEX
Note: Ad page number(s) given in parentheses
AccelSPINE.
www.accelspine.com / (800) 713-9489
(pg. 23)
Aurora Spine.
info@auroraspineus.us /
www.aurora-spine.com / (760) 424-2004
(pg. 16)
Bacterin.
cs@bacterin.com / www.bacterin.com /
(888) 886-9354 (pg. 2)
Centinel Spine.
cs@centinelspine.com /
www.centinelspine.com / (484) 887-8810
(pg. 5)
GS Medical USA.
info@gsmedicalusa.com /
www.gsmedicalusa.com / (866) 904-8144
(pg. 35)
Invibio Spine.
www.turbochargefusion.com /
(484) 342-6004 (pg. 8)
LDR.
www.cervicaldisc.com / (512) 344-3333
(pg. 36)
National Medical Billing Services.
www.nationalascbilling.com /
(636) 273-6711 (pg. 25)
Pacira Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
www.exparel.com (pgs. 11-12, 29-30)
Pinnacle Spine Group.
info@pinnaclespinegroup.com /
www.pinnaclespinegroup.com/sport /
(214) 466-1428 (pg. 3)
Titan Spine.
tsinfo@titanspine.com /
www.titanspine.com / (866) 822-7800 (pg. 14)
Vikon.
info@vikonsurgical.com /
www.vikonsurgical.com / (866) 963-3894
(pg. 4)
Zimmer Spine.
www.zimmerspine.com / (800) 655-2614
(pg. 7)
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ASC Conference + The Future of Spine
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For more information, visit www.beckersspine.com or call (800) 417-2035.
