Clinics applying for HITECH Act electronic health records incentive payments are getting a reminder about the importance of information security, says Robert Tennant of the Medical Group Management Association

Ron Kloewer, CIO at 25-bed Montgomery County Memorial Hospital, explains why the critical access facility's spending on information security will grow in 2011.

Community hospitals must become more vigilant about information security, especially as they apply for federal electronic health records incentive payments, says Chuck Christian, CIO at Good Samaritan Hospital in Vincennes, Ind.

The recent WikiLeaks release of thousands of sensitive government documents puts security leaders on notice: The breach threat is real, and no organization is immune.

Staff training, aggressive breach prevention efforts and strong sanctions for violating policies are key to creating a corporate culture that values privacy and security, says Alan Dowling, the new CEO of the American Health Information Management Association.

Information security incidents are more sophisticated - and so are the criminals who perpetrate them. This raises the bar for professionals seeking careers in incident response in 2011.