EHRs and Ransomware: Protecting Your Crown Jewel
Throughout this past fall, international criminal organizations asserted their dominance over the healthcare sector through ransomware.
Getting Proactive about the Ransomware Threat
Throughout this past fall, international criminal organizations asserted their dominance over the healthcare sector through ransomware.
Are We There Yet? Delivering on the Promise of Digitizing Healthcare Information
On May 1, 2020, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published two Final Rules in the Federal Register targeted at improving interoperability and patient access to health information.
Understanding the Exceptions to Information Blocking
For several decades, it has been the belief of many people within the healthcare industry and federal government that the digitization of healthcare information is the key to improving patient care while simultaneously reducing the cost of that care.
Interpreting the Move Toward Interoperability
On May 1, 2020, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published two Final Rules in the Federal Register targeted at improving interoperability and patient access to health information.
Identifying and Implementing Appropriate Security Controls in Your Telehealth Architecture
Identifying and Implementing Appropriate Security Controls in Your Telehealth Architecture The recently passed Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act provides a $300 million boost in funding for Federal Communications Commission (FCC) led Telehealth and Telemedicine Services programs. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai announced on March 30 that he is proposing $200 million of CARES […]
10 Actions for Business Associates to Build a Strong HIPAA Compliance and Cybersecurity Program
10 Actions for Business Associates to Build a Strong HIPAA Compliance and Cybersecurity Program While most healthcare organizations agree that Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliance is paramount and a robust cybersecurity program is a must, the reality is the industry, as a whole, has many challenges when it comes to building these […]
Understanding What Constitutes OCR-Quality Risk Analysis®
In the first half of 2019, there were 223 reported breaches affecting 10.2 million individuals, an increase of 167% over the same period in 2018. These figures do not include the widely publicized American Medical Collections Agency breach, which is estimated to have affected at least 22 million individuals on its own.
Managing Third-Party Information Security Risk
Clinical laboratory provider Quest Diagnostics recently acknowledged that a billings collections vendor it works with suffered a data breach on its web payment system that may have exposed information of nearly 12 million of Quest’s patients. The third-party company, Elmsford, N.Y.-based American Medical Collection Agency (AMCA), is contracted with Optum360 LLC, which in turn provides payment services to Quest.
What Does OCR’s Lowering of Maximum Annual Caps Mean for Covered Entities?
The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) gave notice in the Federal Register that it is lowering the maximum annual caps for all HIPAA culpability tiers, except for the willful neglect without timely correction tier. There has been uncertainty for some time as to whether OCR’s interpretation of the statute was appropriate with regard to the $1.5M annual limit for all culpability levels.
