Privacy & Security
As myriad healthcare organizations have attested, the aftermath of a HIPAA violation generally isn't a pretty sight, especially when it comes to one's bank account. One Indiana-based health system has witnessed this reality after being slapped with an $800,000 settlement for violating the HIPAA Privacy Rule.
The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services has launched a federal probe into HIPAA privacy violations at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, according to an HHS spokesperson.
Data attacks on healthcare organizations have increased a whopping 100 percent from just four years ago, a reality that has chief security and information officers in a dash to stay ahead of the data protection curve.
Some 90 percent of healthcare organizations have reported at least one data breach in the past two years, with more than a third seeing more than five breaches. Gerry Hinkley, partner at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman's healthcare practice, says breach response is where many make major missteps, mistakes that can easily be avoided.
Imagine if almost everyone walking into your hospital -- patients, doctors, visitors, salespeople -- was carrying an active homing beacon, which broadcast, unencrypted, their presence and repeatedly updated exact location to anyone who chose to listen.
As anyone who's ever worked for IT security can attest, the job is no walk in the park. New threats, compliance mandates, vulnerabilities and updates are constant. But with strong leadership, and a culture of compliance and responsibility to match, many healthcare organizations have shown it can be done right -- and well.
After nearly five years at the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT, Chief Privacy Officer Joy Pritts will be leaving her post later this summer.
Kevin Johnson is a professional hacker -- albeit a self-described ethical one. As head of the security consulting firm Secure Ideas, his job involves probing into organizations' networks and applications to identify vulnerabilities. What he sees in healthcare terrifies him.
The University of Cincinnati Medical Center is at the center of a legal battle that is the nightmare of every healthcare organization corporate counsel. The allegation is that a financial services employee of the hospital accessed the detailed billing records of a patient with a sexually transmitted disease and deliberately and maliciously published those records on Facebook, taunting and ridiculing the patient.
A Pennsylvania-based hospital is notifying nearly 2,000 patients of a HIPAA breach after an employee accessed and transmitted patients' protected health data outside of the hospital's secure network.