Technological growth has empowered today’s healthcare industry with a number of software applications and IT infrastructure which enables them to communicate, store and process patient health information the digital way. However, with cyber threat lurking above the IT enabled environment, the Office for Civil Rights had enforced the HIPAA Privacy Rule, as a sequel to…
Data breaches can cost healthcare entities a great deal. Proof to this is The Community Health Systems breach incident that exposed 4.5 million patients’ data in 29 states. According to a calculation at Forbes, this breach is likely to cost the entity anywhere between $75 million and $150 million. Soon after the breach was announced,…
A thousand incidents and counting, the federal health breach tally hits an all-time high, now listing 1,010 major breaches reported since federal regulators started to track them in September 2009 after the HITECH Act came into effect. These breaches have together affected 31.5 million individuals. The noteworthy fact is that out of these, more than…
The healthcare information breach tally continues to rises steadily despite security regulations and associated legal action. And the latest data breach to grab the headlines is the Montana Breach, where hackers gained access to a health department server, compromising the information of 1.3 million individuals on a DPHHS (Department of Public Health and Human Services)…
In spite of the continued emphasis on the need for protecting Patient Health Information (PHI), there are still few healthcare enterprises who take things for granted! The latest Parkview Health System Inc., HIPAA settlement for a corrective action at $800,000 demonstrates the need for PHI to be protected in all forms, even paper records. The…
Did you always think compliance with HIPAA was cumbersome and expensive? Think again! Its non-compliance that can cause you twice the trouble! The Office for Civil Rights has been doling out fines to ensure that all healthcare entities take notice of HIPAA compliance – and consequently there have been nine settlements since June 1, 2013,…
With the OCR ramping up enforcement activities, and issuing a number of HIPAA compliance settlements, it has become imperative for healthcare entities to act swiftly, and meet all the requirements to successfully survive any OCR breach investigations and upcoming audits. The OCR is clearly sending a message that they are taking seriously their responsibility to…
Yet another breach incident puts health information of 168,500 individuals at risk. According to a public notice, Sutherland Healthcare Solutions, a third-party billing vendor reported theft of several unencrypted company computers on 5th of February. The computers were stolen from the Los Angeles County public health and health services departments. Following this report, breach notification…
In the keynote presentation at the HIMSS Privacy and Security Forum in Boston on 23rd September, the Director of the Office for Civil Rights (OCR), Leon Rodriguez addressed the areas of focus for the HIPAA enforcement actions to be undertaken by OCR, and gave specific perspective advice for organizations that are under the purview of…
