Compliance March 10, 2015 Anthem Refuses Government IT Security Audit In February this year, Anthem Inc., was hit by a massive HIPAA breach which potentially exposed the data of up to 80 million plan members; ... Read more
Compliance March 9, 2015 Last Minute Preparations Take Place for the National HIPAA Summit Healthcare industry leaders are due to convene next week for the 23rd National HIPAA Summit at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, DC. The Summit, ... Read more
Compliance March 8, 2015 Evansville Clinic Sends 4400 Patient Breach Notification Letters After E-mail Hack St. Mary’s Medical Center has sent 4,400 patient breach notification letters warning of a HIPAA breach in which hackers gained access to several email accounts ... Read more
Security Breaches March 6, 2015 Fall in VA Data Breaches in January 2015 The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has issued a report to congress showing a 35% decrease in VA data breaches in January 2015 compared to ... Read more
Compliance February 28, 2015 5 Commonest Health IT Security Risks Security threats are numerous, and with attacks coming from all angles it is important to conduct regular risk assessments; however, be sure to watch out ... Read more
Compliance February 25, 2015 Damages Sought for 2014 Aventura Hospital HIPAA Breach A patient has filed a lawsuit in a Florida Federal Court and is seeking damages following the 2014 Aventura Hospital HIPAA compliance breach, according to ... Read more
Security Breaches February 25, 2015 2014 Report on PHI Breaches Released by Redspin The Redspin 2014 report on PHI breaches has just been released. The 2014 report on PHI breaches indicates it has been a record breaking year ... Read more
Trends & Reports February 23, 2015 2014 Medical Identity Theft Report: Identity Fraud Increases by 21.7% Ponemon Institute Releases 2014 Medical Identity Theft Report The Ponemon Institute Medical Identity Theft Report is prepared each year and gives an important insight into ... Read more
Security Breaches February 20, 2015 Lone Star Circle of Care HIPAA Breach Caused By Actions of Business Associate News has emerged of a Lone Star Circle of Care HIPAA Breach which has affected approximately 8,7000 individuals. The community health clinic in Georgetown, Central ... Read more
Trends & Reports February 20, 2015 Risk of Theft of PHI by Healthcare Staff Highlighted by Recent Report The theft of PHI by healthcare staff is a difficult issue for HIPAA-covered entities to prevent, and each year many healthcare employees are indicted for ... Read more
Compliance February 18, 2015 Penalty for Theft of Healthcare Data Can be Severe The penalty for theft of healthcare data can be severe, yet many individuals choose to risk imprisonment by accessing and disclosing the protected health information ... Read more
Compliance February 16, 2015 New Initiative Launched to Prevent Improper Accessing of Patient Data One of the largest threats to patient privacy comes from hospital staff, but it is difficult to prevent improper accessing of patient data by employees and ... Read more
Trends & Reports February 5, 2015 Staff Training on HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules is Essential The importance of providing staff training on HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules has been highlighted by a recent breach at New York health insurer, Senior ... Read more
Tools & Practices February 3, 2015 New HIPAA Web Portal Launched by OCR The OCR is laying the foundations that will allow it to start a permanent audit program with the implementation of a new HIPAA web portal ... Read more
Security Breaches February 2, 2015 Deadline for Reporting 2014 HIPAA Breaches The deadline for reporting 2014 HIPAA breaches is fast approaching and only four weeks remain for organizations to advise the Department of Health and Human ... Read more
Security Breaches February 2, 2015 80M-Record Anthem Inc Data Breach Announced The recently announced Anthem Inc data breach has exposed the personal information of up to 80 million individuals, in the largest ever successful hack of ... Read more
Compliance January 30, 2015 OCR to Clarify Mobile Health HIPAA Rules The Department of Health and Human Services has accepted that mobile health HIPAA rules need to be clarified and has confirmed that the OCR understands ... Read more
Compliance January 29, 2015 Secure SMS Messaging Service Will Replace Standard SMS Texts Mobile communications technology has come a long way in the past 35 years, and as technology continues to advance, it has been predicted that standard ... Read more
Compliance January 24, 2015 Sutter Health HIPAA Breach Announced A not-for-profit medical center has reported a breach of patient health information. Sutter Health of Northern California discovered an employee had inappropriately accessed patient records ... Read more
Trends & Reports January 23, 2015 How to Make Health IT User Friendly There are numerous health IT technologies that can be implemented to improve workflow, efficiency and productivity, but all too often these systems prove to be ... Read more
Compliance January 16, 2015 Big Data Legislative Changes Necessary to Protect Patient Privacy In December last year, the Health IT Policy Committee’s Privacy and Security Workgroup met twice to discuss potential big data legislative changes. The impact big ... Read more
Security Breaches January 15, 2015 Marketing Letter Causes BlueCross BlueShield HIPAA Breach A BlueCross BlueShield HIPAA compliance breach has been announced, this time for a violation of regulations covering the use of patient data for marketing purposes. ... Read more
Compliance January 15, 2015 Better Support for Hospital Mobile Devices Required Smartphone use in hospitals is now commonplace, and according to a recent survey conducted by Spyglass Consulting on the use of hospital mobile devices, it ... Read more
Tools & Practices January 15, 2015 GFI Software Launches GFI MailEssentials 2015 GFI Software has announced its MailEssentials email security platform has been updated. MailEssentials 2015 includes several performance-enhancing updates that improve scalability and incorporate load balancing ... Read more
Compliance January 14, 2015 Safeway Issued $10M HIPAA Fine for Improper Dumping For more than seven years the grocery chain, Safeway, has been improperly disposing of confidential patient records from its pharmacies according to California prosecutors. In ... Read more
Trends & Reports January 14, 2015 Healthcare Cybersecurity in 2015 to be a Top Priority Says CHIME According to CHIME, the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives, healthcare cybersecurity in 2015 will be a top priority; with the organization believing that the ... Read more
Compliance January 13, 2015 New Jersey HIPAA Data Encryption Laws to Change From July, 2015, all New Jersey healthcare organizations, health plans, clearing houses and business associates will be required to comply with updated New Jersey HIPAA ... Read more
Compliance January 12, 2015 Indiana Attorney General Issues Fine for Dumped PHI Under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, state Attorney Generals’ offices are permitted to issue financial penalties to violators of HIPAA Rules, and the ... Read more
Security Breaches January 7, 2015 HIPAA Breach due to Improper Storage of PHI from Abortion Clinic Another HIPAA breach in Texas has been reported, and this time it involves the improper storage of PHI – highly confidential information which in the ... Read more
Security Breaches December 31, 2014 ITRC Issues 2014 Data Breach Report The Identity Theft Resource Center has issued its 2014 data breach report which paints a worrying picture for the healthcare industry. Healthcare data breaches accounted ... Read more