Breach

The most recent breach was reported by QRS Healthcare Solutions who has the EHR product Paradigm. What does this mean and what can you learn to protect your practice?

Just a few days ago Cybernews reported the largest compilation of emails and passwords were leaked on a public forum.

Amidst all of the other events in Washington DC in January, a law was passed that amended the HIPAA Regulations. . The amendment requires the department of Health and Human Services to take certain items into account during a HIPAA investigation. The text of the bill reads as follows:

It is important to realize that many of the devices in your office may contain patient information, even after you are no longer using the devices. Information can be stored in hard drives and memory that is on circuit boards and if the information finds it way into the wrong hands you have a HIPAA Violation.

Last week we published an article that Prestera Health was breached due to a vulnerability in their email system. This Week Jefferson Healthcare in Port Townsend, WA experienced a breach related to their email system.

in order to be HIPAA Compliant, you must maintain a "Culture of Compliance" at your office. This can include keeping your software up-to-date, regular required training and addressing risks that pose to your office. This month we address dedicating a privacy officer, testing your backups and proper disposal of patient records.

One of the more common causes of Government Investigations into possible HIPAA violations are patient complaints.

New Haven, Connecticut failed to terminate an employee’s access to their Health Records System after the employee left. The former employee may have accessed a file containing the Protected Health Information of only 498 Patients.

When we discuss HIPAA most of the articles have been on security and breaches, but HIPAA goes well beyond privacy and Security.  One aspect of the HIPAA rule is the “Right of Access”.   OCR (The Office for Civil Rights – the branch of HHS the enforces HIPAA) is enforcing this law even more strongly since the 21 Century Cures Act was published.  OCR has begun to levy fines against organizations that are in violation of the “Right of Access” rule.

in order to be HIPAA Compliant, you must maintain a "Culture of Compliance" at your office. This can include keeping your software up-to-date, regular required training and addressing risks that pose to your office. This month we address HIPAA training, encrypting your drives and Business Associate Agreements