Chris Apgar

President, Apgar & Associates, LLC

Chris Apgar , CISSP, CEO and President of Apgar & Associates, LLC and former HIPAA Compliance officer for Providence Health Plans, is a nationally recognized information security, privacy, national identifier, HIPAA & electronic health information exchange expert. He has over 13 years of experience assisting health care organizations comply with HIPAA, HITECH and other privacy and security regulations. Mr. Apgar also has assisted health care, utilities and financial organizations implement privacy and security safeguards to protect against organizational harm and harm to consumers.

Mr. Apgar is a member of the Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI) Board of Directors member and has served on the Board for more than six years. Mr. Apgar continues to Chair the Oregon & SW Washington Healthcare, Privacy and Security Forum for the 12th year. Mr. Apgar recently joined the State of California Office of Privacy Protection project team charged with developing educational material for health care providers, health plans and consumers regarding medical identity theft and prevention. He is also a member of the Oregon Prescription Drug Monitoring Program Advisory Commission.

Apgar & Associate, LLC clients range from small to large health plans, providers, healthcare clearinghouses, vendors, non-profits, government agencies and health care associations. He has been endorsed by the Oregon Medical Association to assist members with privacy, security and regulatory compliance. Mr. Apgar is also a nationally known speaker and author. More information about Mr. Apgar and Apgar & Associates, LLC can be found at http://www.apgarandassoc.com.



Legal Risks in Social Media for Healthcare Providers

The purpose of this webinar is to review the use of social media by health care organizations to better assist patients and health plan members and more broadly communicate to patients, health plan members, families and the community. The risks associated with social media will be reviewed along with a social media policy and procedure and a social media plan. Also, the webinar will include tips regarding how to minimize social media risks and better education for health care organizations’ workforce members.

HITECH - Why It's Important to Comply Now

HIPAA myths date back to the first of several administrative simplification rules. Now HITECH myths also abound. It is true the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is not enforcing a number of the privacy and security provisions of HITECH but that does not mean it is to be ignored or wait to comply after all HITECH rules have been finalized.

Meaningful Use and Risk Analysis - What It Means and How to Get Started

An accurate assessment of potential risks is essential to your entity's health in relation to ongoing compliance with privacy and security regulations.