Posts Tagged ‘ healthcare ’

Healthcare breaches & fraud are here to stay

Don’t expect medical breaches and healthcare fraud to drop off the radar anytime soon. Here’s why. First, the number of breaches in the industry is still escalating. In 2011, healthcare breaches occurred 32% more frequently than in 2010.1 Second, the profitably of medical records on the black market is high – 192% more profitable than [...][ READ MORE ]

Medical and mobile: Convenience trumps security

Say goodbye to bulky manila folders. Today’s healthcare organizations are zipping through medical histories and writing prescriptions using mobile devices. But the new found convenience hasn’t been without cost – not just in implementing new systems and tools but in losing data when security measures aren’t implemented too. A recent study suggests that adopting new [...][ READ MORE ]

Responding resourcefully to medical data breaches

  It’s safe to say that healthcare data is/are under attack. Breaches of medical records increased 97% from 2010 to 2011 according to HHS data. Statistics like that lend new urgency and importance to gatherings such as the upcoming HCCA 2012 Compliance Institute. Be prepared: Does your organization observe security protocols and have controls in [...][ READ MORE ]

Ensuring compliance with new healthcare legislation

Legislation has been introduced in Congress to crack down on Medicare and Medicaid fraud. This legislation comes at a time when incidents of medical fraud are on the rise and the Obama Administration is poised to role out sweeping healthcare reform.  Medical fraud is estimated to cost the U.S. health care system $100 billion a [...][ READ MORE ]

Help your customers protect their PHI

Recently I addressed the importance of having plans in place to protect personal health information in light of the sharp increase in healthcare data breaches. Unfortunately, research studies are finding that incidents of fraud resulting from exposed healthcare data are on the rise.[ READ MORE ]

Do your business associates know how they will be affected by HITECH?

Just as the healthcare industry came up to speed on the regulations defined in The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health ("HITECH") Act, additional modifications are being proposed. These proposed rules focus on expanding obligations and penalties for covered entities (CEs) to now include business associates (BAs). So why is this significant? [ READ MORE ]

Warning: Medical data breaches are on the rise

According to a recent study by the Identity Theft Resource Center, data breaches in the healthcare sector are occurring at a higher rate than in other industries. The study found that of the 385 data breaches that occurred in the U.S. in the first half of 2010, 30% of those affected were healthcare providers. In comparison, data breaches reported in banking and other financial institutions for the same time period totaled 10%. What is the cause of this large discrepancy between industries?[ READ MORE ]