Tags |
|
|
Links |
|
|
Write You - New Laws Effect the Way Businesses Must Protect Their Customers
If you are looking for titanium laser cutting machines, the Internet provides a directory of companies that offer this type of equipment.Laser cutting remains one of the fastest growing methods in the manufacturing equipment industry. It is being used by fabricators of metals instead of older equipment, such as turret punches.Laser cutting machines offer important advantages in precision, productivity, flexibility, material utilization, and part?s quality. It consists of major components like machine frame, beam delivery, drive system, and resonator.A thermal process that is applied to high quality and precise cutting is termed laser cutting. The energy from a laser cutting machine is focused on a material to burn, melt, and vaporize. A number of laser resonators can produce a beam that is focused on a small hot spot to allow faster and high-quality laser cutting resulting in a less expensive operating cost.Oxygen adds heat to the process and causes the metal to burn and leave a blackened edge. Laser cutting with nitrogen makes the cut cooler, leaving a high quality edge finish.Laser cutting equipment used in industries can cut various materials that include stainless steel,<
With the rash of new laws being drafted and passed by both state and national legislators, businesses will be compelled to implement best practices for their data network security to protect their consumers data. Company’s now have the choice of either securing their networks or face embarrassment, and negative press associated with insecure data networks. Even worst, if companies do not publicly disclose security breach’s to their customers, they run the risk of being held liable for civil damages or can face class action lawsuits.
Window of Opportunity for Companies in States with Pending Laws Employers Can Pay for Employee Education Costs & Gain a Tax Benefit: Section 127 Plans
Congress has provided a number of tax incentives to encourage employers to provide employee education. This article discusses one of the most overlooked employer education tax incentive, Section 127 plans.Section 127 allows employers to create a program for providing employee education (up to $5,250 per year per employee), while permitting the employer a deduction and allowing the employees to exclude the amounts from their taxable income.Absent a Section 127 plan, the education tax rules can be a bit, well, confusing. Absent a Section 127 Plan (and assuming that the Section 117 scholarship provisions are not applicable), the cost for education provided by employers to employees is (generally) deductible by the employer as an "ordinary and necessary" business expense and is excluded from the employee's taxable income as a "working condition fringe" benefit, if the education is related to the employer’s business. If the education is not related to the employer's business, then the employer is (generally) not entitled to deduct the costs and the employee is required to include these amounts in his or her taxable income.A number of court cases have addressed what educational costs are relat
When the California Senate Law 1386 was passed and became effective 1 July, 2004, it was virtually unnoticed by the press or companies doing business in the state, remaining an obscure law in October of 2004 when Georgia-based ChoicePoint, Inc. internally identified that their data network had been compromised.
Almost four months went by from the time ChoicePoint, Inc. recognized that their network had been compromised and the announcement of the breach. During that time, ChoicePoint Inc. executives had decided it was best to attempt to isolate the degree of damage before approaching their customers with the news that their personal identities had been stolen.
ChoicePoint, Inc eventually estimated the number of people, whose personal data had been compromised, at 145,000. The incident might have gone by completely undiscovered if ChoicePoint, Inc. had not contacted the local police at the initial detection of the security violation.
By neglecting to rapidly informing it’s customers of the potential misuse of their consumer identities due to a breach in their network security, ChoicePoint, Inc. violated the California Senate Bill 1386. When it was finally announced in February of 2005 that their data network was compromised, no one knew of the legal firestorm it would produce with legislators all over the country.
Law Makers Reply to Data Loss
Out of the 145,000 individuals believed to have lost their personal identification, only 35,000 California citizens were initially notified because the California law only required notification of California residence. As news spread, outraged politicians threw out the country pressured ChoicePoint, Inc. to disclose the extent of the network breach to all affected individuals and then began drafting bills that would fill the gaps for their constituents.
While individual laws vary from state to state, approximately 15 states at the time of this writing, including New York, Illinois, Connecticut and Florida, have passed bills that require businesses to notify customers of a network breach that could result in the loss of personal identity. While state legislators are passing notification laws, U.S. Senators Patrick Leahy and Arlen Spector have introduced the “Personal Data Privacy and Security Act” to address compromised data networks with some proposed bills going as far as to require a national registry.
With the passage of these laws, businesses that maintain consumer information, which has been defined by most states as social security number, drivers license numbers, state id numbers, credit and debit card numbers, and account numbers (bank, checking, saving, etc.), are being forced to assume responsibility of the consumer data they maintain and are being penalized with fines if they do not.
Over the last few years, American businesses have begun to get use to the idea of mandatory compliancy programs, the health care industry has Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), publicly traded corporations are required to be compliant with Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the Gramm - Leach - Bliley Act (GLBA) affects how financial institutions like banks, and retail organizations must comply with mandatory credit card company's programs requiring secure data networks.
With the rash of new laws being drafted and passed by both state and national legislators, businesses will be compelled to implement best practices for their data network security to protect their consumers data. Company’s now have the choice of either securing their networks or face embarrassment, and negative press associated with insecure data networks. Even worst, if companies do not publicly disclose security breach’s to their customers, they run the risk of being held liable for civil damages or can face class action lawsuits.
Window of Opportunity for Companies in States with Pending Laws
When you're dealing with the public, you're going to have problems in the form of complaints. It's a fact of life that everybody needs to deal with, not only in the medical billing field but everywhere. But medical billing has its own little quirks that are unlike any other business in the world. We're going to cover some of these quirks in this article. Hopefully, if you are a medical billing representative, you will be prepared to handle some of these unique situations.One of the most common customer complaints that patients will have is when they expect to have a bill that they were given for a medical service paid and it's not paid. Worse than that, they're not even told that the bill wasn't paid and they end up getting a nasty letter in the mail demanding payment. The patient is now sitting at home scratching his or her head, wondering what the heck happened. So the first person they call up is the medical biller. They want to know why this bill wasn't paid.This is where the answer gets a little complicated. See, medical billing is not the fastest service in the world. For example. You can, as a medical biller, submit a bill for patient John Doe to Medicare on January 1, 2007 and
ChoicePoint, Inc eventually estimated the number of people, whose personal data had been compromised, at 145,000. The incident might have gone by completely undiscovered if ChoicePoint, Inc. had not contacted the local police at the initial detection of the security violation.
By neglecting to rapidly informing it’s customers of the potential misuse of their consumer identities due to a breach in their network security, ChoicePoint, Inc. violated the California Senate Bill 1386. When it was finally announced in February of 2005 that their data network was compromised, no one knew of the legal firestorm it would produce with legislators all over the country.
Law Makers Reply to Data Loss
Out of the 145,000 individuals believed to have lost their personal identification, only 35,000 California citizens were initially notified because the California law only required notification of California residence. As news spread, outraged politicians threw out the country pressured ChoicePoint, Inc. to disclose the extent of the network breach to all affected individuals and then began drafting bills that would fill the gaps for their constituents.
While individual laws vary from state to state, approximately 15 states at the time of this writing, including New York, Illinois, Connecticut and Florida, have passed bills that require businesses to notify customers of a network breach that could result in the loss of personal identity. While state legislators are passing notification laws, U.S. Senators Patrick Leahy and Arlen Spector have introduced the “Personal Data Privacy and Security Act” to address compromised data networks with some proposed bills going as far as to require a national registry.
With the passage of these laws, businesses that maintain consumer information, which has been defined by most states as social security number, drivers license numbers, state id numbers, credit and debit card numbers, and account numbers (bank, checking, saving, etc.), are being forced to assume responsibility of the consumer data they maintain and are being penalized with fines if they do not.
Over the last few years, American businesses have begun to get use to the idea of mandatory compliancy programs, the health care industry has Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), publicly traded corporations are required to be compliant with Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the Gramm - Leach - Bliley Act (GLBA) affects how financial institutions like banks, and retail organizations must comply with mandatory credit card company's programs requiring secure data networks.
With the rash of new laws being drafted and passed by both state and national legislators, businesses will be compelled to implement best practices for their data network security to protect their consumers data. Company’s now have the choice of either securing their networks or face embarrassment, and negative press associated with insecure data networks. Even worst, if companies do not publicly disclose security breach’s to their customers, they run the risk of being held liable for civil damages or can face class action lawsuits.
Window of Opportunity for Companies in States with Pending Laws Is Your Company the Real McCoy?
One of my favorite Gary Larson cartoons is the one
with the cardboard cutouts of a hillbilly family on
the lawn of their mountain shack. The caption reads:
The Fake McCoys.The term "Real McCoy" most likely comes from a railway
invention by Elijah McCoy that automatically dripped
oil to critical parts of the train instead of having
to stop and let the oilman do it manually.Even though Elijah applied for and was granted a US
Patent, there were many imitators. But none of them
were as good as the "Real McCoy".How about you and your company? Are you the Real McCoy?Or are you trying to be something you're not? Are you
trying to imitate your competition instead of being
yourself?I see far too many small companies trying to look like
big companies. I see big companies doing their best to
come across as a small-town company. There are old
enterprises attempting to look fresh and new, while
brand new ones are trying to appear well established.All of these efforts burn up time, energy and
resources. They rarely work well--if they work at all.People like to do business with people they like. And
they like people who are like themselves. Theyover the country.
Law Makers Reply to Data Loss
Out of the 145,000 individuals believed to have lost their personal identification, only 35,000 California citizens were initially notified because the California law only required notification of California residence. As news spread, outraged politicians threw out the country pressured ChoicePoint, Inc. to disclose the extent of the network breach to all affected individuals and then began drafting bills that would fill the gaps for their constituents.
While individual laws vary from state to state, approximately 15 states at the time of this writing, including New York, Illinois, Connecticut and Florida, have passed bills that require businesses to notify customers of a network breach that could result in the loss of personal identity. While state legislators are passing notification laws, U.S. Senators Patrick Leahy and Arlen Spector have introduced the “Personal Data Privacy and Security Act” to address compromised data networks with some proposed bills going as far as to require a national registry.
With the passage of these laws, businesses that maintain consumer information, which has been defined by most states as social security number, drivers license numbers, state id numbers, credit and debit card numbers, and account numbers (bank, checking, saving, etc.), are being forced to assume responsibility of the consumer data they maintain and are being penalized with fines if they do not.
Over the last few years, American businesses have begun to get use to the idea of mandatory compliancy programs, the health care industry has Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), publicly traded corporations are required to be compliant with Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the Gramm - Leach - Bliley Act (GLBA) affects how financial institutions like banks, and retail organizations must comply with mandatory credit card company's programs requiring secure data networks.
With the rash of new laws being drafted and passed by both state and national legislators, businesses will be compelled to implement best practices for their data network security to protect their consumers data. Company’s now have the choice of either securing their networks or face embarrassment, and negative press associated with insecure data networks. Even worst, if companies do not publicly disclose security breach’s to their customers, they run the risk of being held liable for civil damages or can face class action lawsuits.
Window of Opportunity for Companies in States with Pending Laws Graduate School: Should You Go?
You don’t need to go to graduate school. This is true. You’ve got your college degree and this will help you maintain a roomy house in a nice neighborhood. But what will a graduate degree do for you?First, there is a little more money. Lifetime earnings average $234,000 more than an individual with just a bachelor’s degree. But if you got a doctorate, then increase the amount by $504,000 above the master’s level. Doctoral education along with the apprenticeship work can take 10 years or longer. And the 10 years are some of the most grueling work you’ll ever do. So let’s focus on just the graduate degree. Whew.Another reason for obtaining a graduate degree is to make yourself more valuable to your employer. They aren’t going to can the guy with the MBA. In this age of layoffs and cutbacks, you need a competitive advantage over your coworker. Everyone is replaceable. If you think you aren’t, better think twice. Just make it harder on your employer to find another employee with a graduate degree at your salary. See what I mean?Getting your graduate degree usually entails being motivated by some other source. I started my graduate program when I decided to leave my current job.aws, U.S. Senators Patrick Leahy and Arlen Spector have introduced the “Personal Data Privacy and Security Act” to address compromised data networks with some proposed bills going as far as to require a national registry.
With the passage of these laws, businesses that maintain consumer information, which has been defined by most states as social security number, drivers license numbers, state id numbers, credit and debit card numbers, and account numbers (bank, checking, saving, etc.), are being forced to assume responsibility of the consumer data they maintain and are being penalized with fines if they do not.
Over the last few years, American businesses have begun to get use to the idea of mandatory compliancy programs, the health care industry has Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), publicly traded corporations are required to be compliant with Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the Gramm - Leach - Bliley Act (GLBA) affects how financial institutions like banks, and retail organizations must comply with mandatory credit card company's programs requiring secure data networks.
With the rash of new laws being drafted and passed by both state and national legislators, businesses will be compelled to implement best practices for their data network security to protect their consumers data. Company’s now have the choice of either securing their networks or face embarrassment, and negative press associated with insecure data networks. Even worst, if companies do not publicly disclose security breach’s to their customers, they run the risk of being held liable for civil damages or can face class action lawsuits.
Window of Opportunity for Companies in States with Pending Laws Medical Billing - Billing The Wrong Item
If you think the following scenario is uncommon, then you haven't been in the medical billing industry long enough. What follows is a sample of what can go very wrong when billing Medicare for somebody's, well, whatever it was supposed to be.You've just got your DME software all setup. The patients are in, the inventory is in, the doctors and facilities are in, the insurance carriers are in and you're ready to start billing.And this is what happens.John Doe pops up on your computer. He's a recent patient at Doctor Jones. It appears that he has been treated for some disease of the lungs and he has prescribed an oxygen concentrator for the patient and several months of oxygen to be given to the patient. The medical billing person goes through the procedure and bills Medicare for the oxygen concentrator and oxygen for the first month. This goes on for about 11 months.On the twelfth month, the patient dies and the equipment needs to be picked up. Mind you, Medicare has been paying for this item for almost a year now. The maintenance men go to the patient's home to pick up the concentrator and find, not a concentrator, but a wheelchair. You can imagine their confusion. Well, thred to be compliant with Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the Gramm - Leach - Bliley Act (GLBA) affects how financial institutions like banks, and retail organizations must comply with mandatory credit card company's programs requiring secure data networks.
With the rash of new laws being drafted and passed by both state and national legislators, businesses will be compelled to implement best practices for their data network security to protect their consumers data. Company’s now have the choice of either securing their networks or face embarrassment, and negative press associated with insecure data networks. Even worst, if companies do not publicly disclose security breach’s to their customers, they run the risk of being held liable for civil damages or can face class action lawsuits.
Window of Opportunity for Companies in States with Pending Laws
Company’s that exist in states with pending laws have a window of opportunity to tighten up their network security before they become open to potential liability and lawsuits. This window of opportunity is an excellent time to educate employees of the laws concerning network security, and implement security controls in their network that will make them compliant with their respective state law.
Listed are five major steps that organizations should take to keep nonpublic information private outlining how organizations can establish and enforce information-security policies that will help them comply with these privacy regulations.
Step 1: Identify and prioritize consumer information
The majority of businesses have never addressed how to protect consumer information. By categorizing the types of information by value and level confidentiality, businesses can prioritize what data to secure first.
Step 2: Study the internal flow of information and perform risk analysis
It's critical for a business to understand how information flows within the company to see how confidential information flows around an organization. Identifying the major business processes that involve confidential information is a straightforward exercise, but determining the risk of leakage requires a more in-depth examination. Organizations need to ask themselves the following questions of each major business process:
Which employees have access to the information?
How is the information created, modified, processed, and distributed by employees?
What is the workflow of consumer information?
Are there gaps between stated policies/procedures and actual workflow?
By analyzing information flows with these questions in mind, companies can quickly identify vulnerabilities in their handling of sensitive information.
Step 3: Determine appropriate access, usage and information-distribution policies
Based on the risk analysis, a business can quickly design policies for various types of consumer information. These policies govern who can access, use or receive which type of content and when, as well as oversee enforcement actions for violations of those policies.
The access to consumer information through out the data network should be secured to reflect the workflow threw the use of password authentication, proper use of user groups, closure of Operating System vulnerabilities, altering a network in appropriate sub-nets, and implementation of firewalls.
Step 4: Implement a monitoring and enforcement system
The ability to monitor and enforce policy adherence is crucial to the protection of consumer information. Control points must be established to monitor information usage and traffic, verifying compliance with policies and performing enforcement actions for violation of those policies. Management must be able to accurately identify threats and prevent them from passing those control points.
Due to the immense amount of digital information in modern organizational workflows, these monitoring systems should have powerful identification abilities to avoid false alarms and have the ability to stop unauthorized traffic. A variety of software products can provide the means to monitor electronic communication channels for se
HTTP = HTML link (for blogs, profiles,phorums):
<a href="http://www.writeyou.net/article/4630/writeyou-New-Laws-Effect-the-Way-Businesses-Must-Protect-Their-Customers.html">New Laws Effect the Way Businesses Must Protect Their Customers</a>
BB link (for phorums):
[url=http://www.writeyou.net/article/4630/writeyou-New-Laws-Effect-the-Way-Businesses-Must-Protect-Their-Customers.html]New Laws Effect the Way Businesses Must Protect Their Customers[/url]
Related Articles:
Business Brokerage Services: Get a Good Deal
Setting Parameters at Work to Enable Achievement of Your Goals
I Want to Sell my Healthcare Information Technology Company - Just After This Next Big Sale
Bookmark it:
|