The National Security Agency (NSA) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) have issued new guidance on selecting and improving the security of Virtual Private Networks (VPN) solutions. VPN solutions allow remote workers to securely connect to business networks. Data traffic is routed through an encrypted virtual tunnel to prevent the interception of sensitive… Read More »

A lawsuit has been filed in U.S. District Court in Minnesota on behalf of 180 healthcare workers over the COVID-19 vaccine mandates of their employers. The plaintiffs, who have not been named in the lawsuit, claim vaccine mandates are a violation of religious freedom and state and federal laws. The lawsuit is one of several… Read More »

Horizon House, Inc., a Philadelphia, PA-based provider of mental health and residential treatment services has announced its IT systems have been hacked and the protected health information of 27,823 individuals has potentially been compromised. Suspicious activity was detected in its computer systems on March 5, 2021. An investigation was launched to determine the nature and… Read More »

McAllen Surgical Specialty Center in Texas has started notifying patients about a ransomware attack that was detected on May 14, 2021. Third-party computer forensics specialists were engaged to investigate the breach and determine the nature and scope of the attack. The investigators determined unauthorized individuals had gained access to certain computers and servers on May… Read More »

The U.S. Department of Justice has recently been cracking down on healthcare offenses and investigations often involve a HIPAA subpoena being issued. The subpoena compels HIPAA-regulated entities to release information such as patient medical records that they would otherwise not be permitted to disclose due to Privacy Rule restrictions on uses and disclosures. The HIPAA… Read More »

Multiple class action lawsuits have been filed against the Californian healthcare provider San Diego Health over a data breach involving the protected health information of 496,949 patients. On March 12, 2021, San Diego Health identified suspicious activity in employee email accounts and launched an investigation. On April 8, 2021, it was determined multiple email accounts… Read More »

OCR Director, Lisa J. Pino Lisa J. Pino has been named Director of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and replaces Robinsue Frohboese, who has served as acting OCR Director since President Trump-appointed Roger Severino resigned from the post in mid-January. OCR is the main enforcer of compliance with… Read More »

While there have been no reported cases of American patients dying as a direct result of a ransomware attack, a new study suggests patient mortality does increase following a ransomware attack on a healthcare provider. According to a recent survey conducted by the Ponemon Institute, more than one fifth (22%) of healthcare organizations said patient… Read More »

Vista Radiology Reports Breach of the PHI of up to 3,634 Individuals Knoxville, TN-based Vista Radiology has notified 3,634 patients about a ransomware attack experienced on July 11, 2021 which took part of its network offline. A leading computer forensics firm was engaged to conduct a full investigation into the attack. And the initial investigation… Read More »

On Tuesday September 28, 2021, TigerConnect is hosting a webinar to demonstrate how healthcare providers can simplify the process of physician scheduling by using an automated, easily accessible, mobile-friendly physician scheduling solution. Healthcare providers that have yet to fully automate physician scheduling typically rely on spreadsheets, printed sheets, and whiteboards for communicating physician schedules. Physician… Read More »