Paul Litwak is an attorney and consultant to government agencies, health service systems, and information technology companies. His interest in HIPAA began when a client asked him to review an agreement that contemplated use of the Internet to access software used for clinical management and business operations of health care facilities. This arrangement offered benefits to the client, but presented privacy concerns that could only be addressed by understanding the technical and business issues associated with security of health information systems. This led to an exhaustive (and exhausting) exploration of the requirements of HIPAA, and the conclusion that HIPAA was a good idea that wasn’t well understood.

A Path to HIPAA Compliance is his effort to provide current and useful information to health care organizations that must comply with the privacy, security, and electronic transaction standards of HIPAA. Mr. Litwak has also published articles about the opportunities and demands of HIPAA in trade publications. He has conducted HIPAA training programs at national and statewide conferences throughout the United States, as well as HIPAA readiness assessments for a number of health care organizations.

Much of Mr. Litwak’s career has related to development and operation of health and human service systems and managed care programs for persons with mental illness, chemical dependency or developmental disabilities. His experience includes service as Deputy Commissioner and General Counsel for the New York State Office of Mental Health and Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Preferred Health Care, Ltd., one of the first behavioral health managed care companies.

Mr. Litwak holds degrees from the University of Massachusetts - Amherst (B.A.) and the State University of New York at Buffalo (J.D.). He is licensed to practice law in New York and Virginia. He is a member of the American Health Lawyers Association, and the Computer Law Association. He lives in Virginia Beach, Virginia with his wife, Linda Williams, and their children, Kasia and Michael.