There is lots of buzz about the changes to Business Associates under the new HIPAA Omnibus Rule. Let’s take a look at some of the items that both Covered Entities (CE) and Business Associates (BA) should know about the new HIPAA changes. Who are Business Associates? The definition of Business Associates for the most part...
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is advising people to disable Java in their browsers (Internet Explorer, Chrome, Safari, etc.). According to a CBS News report: The recommendation came in an advisory issued late Thursday, following up on concerns raised by computer security experts. Experts believe hackers have found a flaw in Java’s coding that...
Gienna Shaw over at FierceHealthIT has an entertaining article on some to the strangest security breaches in 2012. Here are her “highlights” of 2012. 1.) EMR held ransom (We also discussed another EMR ransom case here) In the Lake County case, an unauthorized remote user posted a message on the practice’s server stating that its...
The HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has fined the Hospice of North Idaho (HONI) $50,000 for a breach resulting from a stolen laptop. What makes this unique is it represents the first time an organization has been fined for a breach of less than 500 patients. We will take a look at the details...
In an article over at Healthcare IT News, Philadelphia attorney Christopher Ezold gives some very good insight that organizations should not ignore HIPAA requirements. Ezold hits on many good points to drive this home: Ezold warns that while enforcement of PHI rules have been lax in the past, the Department of Health and Human Services...
The most dangerous HIPAA action you can do is very simple: DO NOTHING You may be under a false sense of security because none of these events have happened to your organizations: You haven’t had a HIPAA breach You haven’t received a HIPAA fine You didn’t need to use a Security Incident Response Plan You...
The Washington Post published a report that is highly critical of the security of patient information in the healthcare industry. A year-long examination of cybersecurity by The Washington Post has found that health care is among the most vulnerable industries in the country, in part because it lags behind in addressing known problem Avi Rubin...
This year more and more employees are going to get smartphones this holiday season. And more and more employees will be asking for access to email and data via those new smartphones. You may take the stance and say “no” to access via smartphones. But these employees might have access to email and data already...
ONC has launched a mobile device guidance page to help protect mobile devices. The page offers some good advice and tips to protect mobile devices including (go to the ONC page for more details on each): Use a password or other user authentication Install and enable encryption Install and activate remote wiping and/or remote disabling...
Having a Security Incident Response Plan (SIRP) will allow an organization to respond to a security incident. We define the steps of a SIRP here. An article over at Government Health IT has a question and answers segment that Leon Rodriguez, director of the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) at the Department of Health and Human Services...
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