December 17, 2012 Gabriel Perna
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In this Healthcare Informatics podcast, Associate Editor Gabriel Perna talks with Larry Ponemon, M.D., founder and chairman of the Ponemon Institute, about healthcare’s data privacy problem. The Ponemon Institute along with ID Experts recently released their third annual study on patient privacy. In the podcast, Ponemon discusses these starling statistics, attempting to explain why the industry has lagged behind in this area. He also explains just how much a breach costs an organization, and he touches on the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) movement and its impact on data breaches.
December 13, 2012 Gabriel Perna
news
According to a new survey from the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), even as more healthcare organizations conduct annual security risk analyses to protect patient data, most are still without a data breach response plan. Thanks to incentives provided by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) meaningful use program, there is increased focus on data protection, say authors of the report, 2012 HIMSS Security Survey.
December 12, 2012 Gabriel Perna
news
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently launched an education initiative and set of online tools that aim to provide healthcare organizations various tips on how to protect patients’ protected health information (PHI) when using mobile devices such as laptops, tablets, and smartphones. The initiative, Mobile Devices: Know the RISKS. Take the STEPS. PROTECT and SECURE Health Information, offers videos, easy-to-download fact sheets, and posters to promote best ways to safeguard patient health information.
December 7, 2012 David Raths
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Although containing and correcting a breach of personal health information can take considerable resources, one chief information security officer warns that it is a mistake to focus the response too narrowly. Speaking during an AHA Solutions webinar on Dec. 6, Michael Boyd, director of information security management for 32-hospital Providence Health & Services, said, “Don’t let the single incident define your security program, because it can lead to a dangerously narrow vision and identity.”
December 6, 2012 Gabriel Perna
news
A new study from the Ponemon Institute has reaffirmed many likewise reports that healthcare industry is struggling to stop data breaches. The study, the Third Annual Benchmark Study on Patient Privacy & Data Security, said that 94 percent of healthcare organizations have suffered at least one data breach, while an astounding 45 percent of organizations have experienced more than five data breaches during the past two years.
December 5, 2012 Gabriel Perna
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The healthcare industry still lags behind in data security, the Frisco, Texas-based collaborative, the Health Information Trust Alliance (HITRUST) has deduced after an analysis of the industry’s response to data breaches from 2009 to the present. The report, “A Look Back: U.S. Healthcare Data Breach Trends,” analyzes every breach that has affected 500 or more individuals, and while there has been a decline in the number of breaches, the report says the industry’s susceptibility to various infiltrations has stagnated.
November 27, 2012 Gabriel Perna
news
Alere Home Monitoring, a Waltham, Mass.-based provider of patient home monitoring services, recently disclosed that a company-owned laptop containing protected health information including Social Security numbers and diagnosis codes, was recently stolen from a locked vehicle that belonged to one of the firm’s employees. The company says it has notified approximately 116,000 individuals of the incident.
November 27, 2012 Gabriel Perna
news
The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), a large academic medical center, recently announced a data breach that affected approximately 1,500 patients. UAMS says a former physician, who was fired in 2010, kept patient lists and notes after leaving the hospital in June of that year.
November 17, 2012 Mark Hagland
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I found the Nov. 13 InformationWeek commentary by Mathew J. Schwartz, titled “Petraeus Fallout: 5 Gmail Security Facts,” to be both entertaining and instructive. As Schwartz puts it simply and eloquently, “Want to avoid a fall from grace? Then ensure you’re not the chief of a spy agency who coordinates your extramarital affairs using a free webmail service. That’s one information security takeaway from the ongoing probe into the former director of the CIA, David Petraeus, who resigned after 14 months on the job.”
October 24, 2012 Gabriel Perna
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Citing a report from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG), members of the House and Ways Committee charged the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for failing to protect Medicare beneficiaries who have their Social Security Number (SSN) on their Medicare ID cards from identity theft.
October 24, 2012 Gabriel Perna
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A pair of recent reports took a critical look at the increasing amount of data breaches in the healthcare industry. The reports’ authors say the industry has faced attacks because it has accumulated sensitive data that can be used by hackers for financial reasons.
October 23, 2012 Gabriel Perna
news
A 35-year-old Florida man, Dale Munroe, has pleaded guilty to accessing more than 760,000 patient records from 2009-11, and selling them to the agent of a medical center, chiropractic clinics, and an injury hotline, the Orlando Sentinel is reporting. According to the Sentinel, Munroe plead guilty to an Orlando court on one count of conspiracy and one count of wrongful disclosure of health information., admitting he committed the crime when he was an emergency department employee at Florida’s Celebration Hospital, a 112-bed acute care facility.
