Health care hacks on the horizon for 2015
Some experts are saying that 2015 could be the so-called “Year of the Health Care Hack,” according to an article from Reuters. The suggestion is that the massive amounts of electronic information...
View ArticleApple’s new health apps might be raising the industry’s blood pressure
Apple has long been associated with technological innovation, but has established a new focus on health applications. Apple’s new ResearchKit software focuses on collecting user health information for...
View ArticleFighting back against the hack, Obama announces cyberattack sanctions
President Obama announced sanctions to allow the U.S. government to respond to cyberattacks, particularly when those attacks originate abroad. The President’s Executive Order announces a national...
View ArticleSpecificity concerns surround roadmap for learning health system
The American Hospital Association (AHA) outlined some concerns about the lack of specificity contained in the first draft of a roadmap to facilitate data exchange for a learning health system. The...
View ArticleSharing is caring, health info blocking undermines purpose
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) reported to Congress on the extent of health information blocking, which occurs when persons or entities knowingly and...
View ArticleHealth care data breaches: Top causes and preventive measures
In its annual Data Breach Investigations Report, Verizon paints a picture yet of the threats, vulnerabilities, and actions that lead to security breaches, as well as how such breaches impact...
View ArticleKusserow on Compliance: Co-sourcing benefits to compliance officers
More and more compliance officers seek ways to supplement their limited in-house resources and have found co-sourcing as a means to meet the challenges of the program. For many, the additional...
View ArticleONC offers 7 steps to HIPAA security
Covered entities (CEs) concerned about compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) (P.L. 104-191) Security Rule should consider following a seven-step...
View ArticleSubstance abuse data suppression: safeguarding privacy or hindering research?
In the United States, the use of drugs like cocaine is down, but a more socially accepted but no less dangerous type of substance abuse is persistent and widespread. It has been reported that opioids...
View ArticleHealth care data breaches cost the most
The average global cost of a data breach per record for a health care organization is more than twice the average cost of breaches in other industries, according to a new report from the Ponemon...
View ArticleNo risk analysis? That’s the root of all evil
The failure of covered entities (CEs) and business associates (BAs) to perform risk analyses “is the root of all evil that we see,” Abby Bonjean, Investigator for HHS’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR),...
View ArticleCredit hacking case opens door to health care class actions
A July 2015 appellate decision handed down in a credit card hacking case could open the door to more class actions for health care data breaches. In Remijas v. Neiman Marcus Group, LLC, the Seventh...
View ArticlePanel suggests HHS security reboot after 5 hacks in 3 years
The House Energy and Commerce Committee issued a report detailing serious structural flaws at HHS—including operating divisions such as the FDA and National Institutes of Health—that led to poor...
View ArticleLockheed Martin: Defense heavyweight now health care technology innovator?
What do a defense contractor, a Silicon Valley giant, and a Maryland community college have in common? It sounds like the beginning of a joke, but as implausible as it seems, they now have quite a lot...
View ArticleKusserow on Compliance: Tips on information security from the FTC
The health care sector is so focused on Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy and Security related issues under the watchful eyes of CMS and the Office of Civil...
View ArticleOrganizations lack proper defense from cyber-attacks, survey finds
Is your organization leaving itself open to a cyber-attack? With as many as 81 percent of health care executives reporting that their organizations were compromised by cyber-attacks over the past two...
View ArticleKusserow on Compliance: OIG calls for more proactive oversight of HIPAA
The Office of Inspector General issued a report assessing the Office for Civil Rights’ (OCRs’) oversight of covered entities’ compliance with the HIPAA Privacy Rule and found the agency needed to...
View ArticleHighlight on Delaware: State HIE shows others benefits of sharing
Although the state of Delaware decided not to blaze any trails with health insurance exchange development, there is one exchange within the state which is doing just that. The Delaware Health...
View ArticleHighlight on California: Aid-in-dying law allows patients to be given deadly...
On October 5, 2015, California Governor Jerry Brown (D) signed AB2-15, the End of Life Option Act. Effective January 1, 2016, the law will allow an adult who is terminally ill to request and obtain a...
View ArticleCamouflage is not encryption, FTC warns software company
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) entered into a $250,00 settlement agreement with a software company that allegedly misled dental practices into believing that the software it sold was encrypted...
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