Little by little, the Trump administration is filling key leadership positions in the Department of Health and Human Services that can have an impact on privacy and security issues. Could these new leaders make big changes?
An important theme that emerges from the HHS Office for Civil Rights' dozens of HIPAA settlements is that all aspects of compliance are critical and subject to close scrutiny by federal regulators, says former OCR director Leon Rodriguez.
So far in 2017, hacking incidents continue to affect the largest number of individuals impacted by major health data breaches. Meanwhile, incidents involving unencrypted computing devices continue to decline, according to the federal breach tally.
HITRUST is making available a streamlined version of its Common Security Framework for use by smaller healthcare providers with tighter resources. But will they use it?
Leading the latest version of the ISMG Security Report: a look at how various sectors are moving away from checkbox compliance, instead taking proactive measures to secure their information assets. Also, big increase in e-commerce fraud and Yahoo's costly breach.
Could attitudes about cybersecurity in the healthcare sector be at a tipping point? A new study shows a shift from a focus on compliance to managing business risks, says David Finn, health IT officer at Symantec.
A pending federal regulation - called for under the HITECH Act - that would allow regulators to share with breach victims money collected in HIPAA violation cases eventually could have implications for class-action breach lawsuits, says privacy attorney Adam Greene.
Plans to launch some onsite HIPAA compliance audits are now on hold while the agency that enforces HIPAA completes more than 200 desk audit reports, says Deven McGraw, deputy director of the Department of Health and Human Services' Office for Civil Rights.
Federal regulators have signed a $5.5 million HIPAA settlement with a Florida-based healthcare system for breaches related to unauthorized employee access to more than 100,000 patients' information in a case that subsequently led to federal criminal charges.
The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society's 2017 Conference will offer a slew of educational sessions and informative exhibits focused on top cybersecurity and data privacy challenges facing the healthcare sector. Catch our coverage.
When it comes to health data privacy and security issues, industry experts aren't sure what to expect from Tom Price, M.D., the newly confirmed secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. But they offer a wish list of what they hope will happen.
Plenty of healthcare organizations have been stung by data breaches caused by their business associates. That's one reason why Beaufort Memorial Hospital has been taking a variety of measures to help prevent reportable incidents involving its BAs, says CIO Ed Ricks.
What do the 22 health data breaches reported in 2017 that have been added to the federal "wall of shame" tally have in common? Find out in this latest update.
In this edition of the ISMG Security Report: an analysis of a major fine against a Texas hospital and its implications for how the Trump administration might enforce HIPAA rules. Also, an IRS-related phishing scheme targets businesses.
Federal HIPAA enforcers smacked a Texas pediatric hospital with a $3.2 million civil monetary penalty after investigating breaches involving unencrypted mobile devices and uncovering longstanding failures to comply with HIPAA. What lessons does the case offer?
