The Department of Health and Human Services has updated its HIPAA security risk assessment tool to better assist small and mid-sized healthcare entities and their vendors in performing a comprehensive risk analysis. But why is conducting a risk assessment so challenging for so many?
Federal regulators have smacked health insurer Anthem with a record $16 million HIPAA settlement in the wake of a cyberattack revealed in 2015, which impacted nearly 79 million individuals. What missteps does the settlement highlight?
Health insurer Aetna is still paying the price for two 2017 privacy breaches involving mailings that potentially exposed HIV and cardiac condition information about thousands of individuals. Here's the latest update.
Although HIPAA gives patients the right to access their health records in their preferred format - on paper or electronically - a new study finds discrepancies in the information hospitals provide to patients regarding the release of their records, pointing to the need for better training.
Recent additions to the federal health data breach tally shine a light on the mistakes that contribute to breaches - and in some cases, make situations far worse.
A HIPAA-related enforcement case in Massachusetts involving two insider breaches alleges a trail of missteps, including failure to take prompt action after receiving tips about potential misuse of patient information. What can other entities learn from the mistakes?
HIPAA privacy violations can come in many forms. Case in point: Federal regulators have smacked three Boston hospitals with settlements totaling nearly $1 million for allowing crews for the documentary TV show "Save My Life: Boston Trauma" to film on their premises without obtaining authorization from patients.
Is a recent HIPAA settlement issued by the New York state attorney general's office another sign that states might begin to overshadow federal regulators when it comes to enforcement actions involving health data security and privacy?
While healthcare entities and their vendors apparently are improving their encryption practices for computing and storage devices, regulators are also urging organizations to avoid overlooking the importance of physically securing and tracking these devices to help safeguard PHI.
A recent hacker attack targeting a revenue cycle management software and services vendor, which impacted more than 31,000 patients at 11 healthcare organizations, illustrates the potentially broad security risks posed by business associates.
A new council of healthcare CISOs hopes to work together toward improving uniformity and efficiency in the way organizations review the security controls and practices of third-party vendors that handle sensitive patient data.
A tragic accident involving the drowning of a young boy also turned into a privacy breach nightmare for the toddler's adoptive parents, a lawsuit filed against an Oklahoma county hospital alleges.
Leading the latest edition of the ISMG Security Report: An analysis of why it may be too late to secure the 2018 U.S. midterm elections. Also: A close look at the Anthem breach lawsuit settlement and a report on ransomware recovery lessons learned.
About 30 new health data breaches - including a phishing attack impacting 1.4 million individuals - have been added in recent weeks to the official federal tally, pushing the total victim count for 2018 so far to 6.1 million.
When is it acceptable to allow healthcare workers to use their personal smartphones to access patient records? A recent incident at the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs spotlights the dilemma.
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