Tweet Data breaches occur in every industry, but, in healthcare, they’re a whole different ballgame. Black market prices and mobile devices drive data theft and loss. Federal regulations govern breach reporting. With breaches of medical records increasing 97% from 2010 to 2011, the medical field has been especially hard hit. Here’s a look at five [...]

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Tweet It’s no secret that healthcare data breaches are steadily on the rise.  As technology has modernized healthcare, it has also made healthcare more vulnerable to hackers, fraudsters, and costly bad luck (such as when a lost portable hard drive exposes the personal health records of thousands of patients.) The threat is real, so how [...]

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Tweet As far as data security goes, 2011 was a dismal year.  Relentless, high-profile breaches punctured any sense that hack attacks are a remote threat, and by year’s end it was clear (if it wasn’t before) that protection against security disaster can only come from the most rigorous breach defense. Unfortunately, disaster is exactly what [...]

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All data breaches have two things in common: the need for prompt resolution and the need for a robust preparedness plan.

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According to Ponemon Institute’s Second Annual Survey on Medical Identity Theft, we estimate that more than 1.49 million Americans have been targeted by this crime. With an average cost per victim of $20,663 the total national economic impact of medical identity theft crimes is more than $30 billion.

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Today’s headlines trumpet yet another high-profile medical data breach, this time through Health Net. This corporate catastrophe reminds us of the increasing hazard of medical fraud, which is the most expensive and time consuming to resolve of all types of identity theft . The second annual National Study on Medical Identity Theft, fielded by the Ponemon Institute provides further insight into this pervasive problem and how it affects consumers.

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The proliferation of state data breach notification laws, substantive state information security laws (such as the Massachusetts data security standards), and FTC and private lawsuits on information security matters has led to heightened attention to information security in both IT budgets and staffing and in terms of legal resources. With budget pressures all around (not to mention time pressures and the pressures of other duties that in-house counsel already has), the question becomes: How can my organization lower the time and dollar costs associated with information security when there is a breach?

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While state laws requiring “reasonable” data security have had a positive impact, data breach notification laws have had the most profound effect on the improvement of data security. These laws have motivated companies – through negative incentives – to improve data security to avoid publicity, embarrassment, and the risk of notification.

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Tweet A few weeks ago I discussed a few preventative measures a healthcare business can implement to protect itself from the damages of medical fraud.  However, the fight against medical fraud requires support from many groups, including the U.S. Government.  Bringing new tools to the fight, the Obama Administration recently announced aggressive new measures it [...]

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