The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) has imposed a record €225 million ($267m) financial penalty on WhatsApp for ‘severe’ violations of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). WhatsApp, which is owned by Facebook, is […]
Following the presidential declaration of an emergency in Louisiana and Mississippi due to Hurricane Ida, the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services has declared a public health emergency exists in those states […]
On June 2018, 2018, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) was signed into law, and the CCPA took effect on January 1, 2020. It has been more than 18 months since compliance with the privacy […]
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Rules still apply during public health emergencies such as the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) outbreak. When preventing and dealing with cases of COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused […]
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) introduced new standards for data protection in Europe. Introduced in May 2018, GDPR changed the way that businesses handle collect, handle, and process consumer data. The regulations also granted […]
The Californian Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) was signed into law in June 2018. Many data privacy experts have compared CCPA to Europe’s latest data protection legislation, the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). Much like GDPR, […]
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced today that the California Department of Justice will hold six public forums on the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) starting January 8. During the December press meeting in which […]
Impact of CCPA on Business The Californian Governor Jerry Brown signed the Californian Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) into law in June 2018. The CCPA has revolutionised the data privacy rights of Californian residents. CCPA offers […]
The EU introduced the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in May 2018. Since its implementation, GDPR has changed the way that businesses handle, collect, and process consumer data. It is a landmark piece of legislation […]
Hilton Honors has started a repermissioning project for members of its loyalty program members. With the GDPR deadline less than 4 weeks away, it’s a surprisingly rare example of an international company launching a repermissioning […]
The Californian multi-specialty physician’s group, Imperial Valley Family Care Medical Group (IVFCMG), has recently been audited by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) following a potential breach of […]
The Department of Homeland Security has issued an alert over vulnerabilities in Siemens medical imaging devices. The vulnerabilities could be exploited remotely and attacks would require only a low level of skill. Exploits are publicly […]
The Health Information Trust Alliance (HITRUST) is looking to improve its threat information sharing capabilities and provide more assistance to HIPAA covered entities to help them manage cyber threats more effectively. HITRUST is already providing […]
The U.S. Senate has passed new legislation that will allow patients’ histories of drug addiction treatment to be shared with their physicians with consent. The legislation will help to ensure physicians can make more informed […]
Regulations governing the treatment of substance use disorder records and HIPAA are currently at odds, although new legislation has been proposed to align both sets of regulations. Representatives Tim Murphy and Earl Blumenauer have introduced […]
The Medical Device Cybersecurity Act introduced by Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal last week is intended to improve the security of medical devices by making it harder for the devices to be hacked. If the legislation […]
The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights has reminded HIPAA-covered entities why security awareness training for healthcare employees is so important in its July Cybersecurity Newsletter. PHI security is not only […]
A Plastic Surgery Associates of South Dakota ransomware attack has potentially resulted in criminals gaining access to the protected health information (PHI) of 10,200 of its patients. Last year, OCR confirmed in its ransomware guidance that […]
KPMG has published the findings of its recent Cyber Healthcare & Life Sciences Survey. The survey was conducted on 100 individuals with responsibility for information security at healthcare providers and payers with annual revenues in […]
For the second time this month, a healthcare provider has announced that an investigation into a ransomware attack has revealed a historic data breach. Earlier this month, Peachtree Neurological Clinic discovered a 15-month data breach […]
HITRUST has announced it is embarking on a new Community Extension Program to reach out to healthcare organizations to provide advice on best practices to adopt to improve cybersecurity. The new program will enable HITRUST […]
AHIMA, the American Healthcare Information Management Association, has announced it has developed a model HIPAA release form that can be used by HIPAA-covered entities to streamline the processing of requests for copies of patients’ health […]
Peachtree Neurological Clinic has uncovered a 15-month security incident during the investigation of a ransomware attack. The Atlanta, GA clinic says the incident has resulted in the exposure of 176,295 patients’ protected health information. Initially, […]
The names, admission dates and medical record numbers of 5,292 patients of University of Iowa Health Care were accessible over the Internet for around 2 years as a result of an error configuring an application […]
A recent survey conducted by risk management software vendor Netwrix has revealed only 5% of healthcare organizations are using software for risk management and security governance. Additionally, only 32% of healthcare organizations said they had […]
One of the largest data breaches of the year to date has been reported by Washington State University. An unencrypted hard drive containing the data of more than 1 million individuals has been stolen. The […]
The HIPAA Breach Notification Rule requires covered entities to issue breach notification letters to patients within 60 days of the discovery of a data breach. Already this year, OCR has agreed its first settlement with […]
The Ponemon Institute has conducted an annual benchmark study on the cost of data breaches for the last decade. Their 2016 Cost of Data Breach Study was published by the Institute earlier this week. The […]
Patient medical record access guidance has been issued by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC). The HIPAA Privacy Rule permits patients to obtain copies […]
The healthcare industry is under attack from hackers and malicious insiders. Systems are being compromised at a greater rate than ever before. Last year saw record numbers of HIPAA breaches reported to OCR and the […]
In May, the global WannaCry ransomware attacks resulted in more than 230,000 computers being infected and encrypted. There were also a high number of other IT security incidents reported to the Department of Health and […]
Following the recent WannaCry ransomware attacks, the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) was particularly active. OCR sent out warnings, updates, and threat information related to WannaCry ransomware. OCR also […]
At the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society’s 2017 conference-HIMSS17-OCR’s Deven McGraw released some new information on the HIPAA guidance OCR expects to release in 2017. Last year, the Joint Commission lifted the ban on […]
Although the total number of healthcare data breaches reported in 2016 is an order of magnitude lower than the number seen in 2015, there was a significant increase in the number of covered entities (CEs) […]
HIPAA settlements reached record highs in 2016. This is in part due to the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights increasing its enforcement activities in recent years. In total, payments of […]
The Privacy and Security Rules of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) place a number of requirements on healthcare organizations and other covered entities, such as stipulating allowable uses and disclosures of Protected […]
In recent years, there has been a substantial increase in the number of cyberattacks on healthcare organizations with the aim of obtaining PHI. It has proven profitable for hackers to conduct attacks on healthcare organizations […]
The FCC has recently clarified it the rules regarding HIPAA and patient telephone calls, but fails to properly consider automated telephone calls. There has been some confusion reported by healthcare authorities over the rules regarding […]
The following article considers the use, benefits and disadvantages of e-signatures in the healthcare industry, and whether they are compliant with HIPAA rules. The increasing utilisation of digital signatures in the healthcare industry increases the […]
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 is one of the most important pieces of legislation in recent years in regard to the healthcare industry. In spite of its importance, many healthcare providers […]
Veriphyr Identity and Access Intelligence has recently published a report into what causes the greatest threat to exposure of Protected Health Information (PHI). The study found that the theft of mobile devices may result in […]
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