OhanaPsych, a provider of psychiatric telemedicine to adults and children located in Hawaii, has recently demonstrated compliance with the federally mandated standards of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). HIPAA-regulated entities must ensure they are fully compliant with the HIPAA Privacy Rule, Security Rule, Omnibus Rule, Breach Notification Rule, and the HITECH Act;… Read More »
Healthcare data breaches continued to be reported at an astonishing rate in 2022, with data breaches of 500 or more records being reported at a rate of almost two per day. Healthcare providers and other healthcare entities continue to be targeted by cybercriminals and nation-state actors, and attacks have increased in both volume and sophistication.… Read More »
The Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has proposed a new rule that will require the adoption of standards for healthcare attachments transactions and electronic signatures used in conjunction with those transactions to support healthcare claims and prior authorization transactions. The new rule will implement the requirements of the Administrative Simplification Requirements… Read More »
Avem Health Partners, an Oklahoma City-based provider of administrative and technology services to healthcare organizations, has recently started notifying its healthcare clients about a data breach that occurred at one of its vendors, 365 Data Centers. On September 9, 2022, 365 Data Centers notified Avem Health Partners that an unauthorized third party had gained access… Read More »
Passwords can provide a good level of security, but all too often users choose weak passwords that present no challenge to hackers. Many of the most commonly used passwords can be cracked almost instantly. A recent study by NordPass involved an analysis of a 3TB database of passwords and found ‘password’ to have been used… Read More »
Cyberattacks have increased in volume and sophistication to the point where it is inevitable that a successful attack will be experienced by all healthcare organizations at some point in their lifespan. Healthcare organizations can hope for the best, but it is vital to plan for the worst and take steps to ensure that the damage… Read More »
The Orlando, FL-based primary care provider, Health Specialists of Central Florida Inc. (HSCF), has paid a $20,000 financial penalty to settle a HIPAA Right of Access case with the HHS’ Office for Civil Rights. OCR launched an investigation in response to a November 22, 2019, complaint from a woman who had not been provided with… Read More »
A former nurse employed by the Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo, NY, has been sentenced to 37 months in prison for tampering with and stealing controlled medications intended for cancer patients. Kelsey A. Mulvey, 30, of Grand Island, NY, worked as a registered nurse at Roswell Park between February 2018 and June 2018.… Read More »
On November 14, 2022, Fairmont, WV-based Health Care Management Solutions (HMS) reported a data breach to the HHS’ Office for Civil Rights that affected up to 500,000 individuals. At the time, few details about the breach were released. It has now been confirmed that HMS suffered a ransomware attack on October 8, 2022. HMS is… Read More »
The HHS’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has announced a settlement has been reached with a Californian dental practice to resolve multiple HIPAA violations that were identified during investigations of a complaint about impermissible disclosures of protected health information on the review platform Yelp. New Vision Dental is a Californian general dental practice with offices… Read More »