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Ransomware Attack Shuts down Michigan Practice – Deletes All Patient Files
A doctor’s office in Battle Creek, Michigan is closing its doors following a ransomware attack that left them with no other option – besides pay up. The Demand and the Decision Dr. William Scalf told...
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Lost Files: The Beginning of the Problems
We previously wrote an article about the ransomware attack striking a Michigan doctor’s office, leaving their patients with no medical records and leading the practice to closure. This article is...
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Metrocare Services Discloses Second PHI Breach in 5 Months
Metrocare Services, a mental health service provider in North Texas, has notified the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) of a data breach affecting 5,290 patients. The Breach Discovery...
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$3 Million Fine Issued for PHI Breach of Over 300,000 Patients
The Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has announced a settlement with Touchstone Medical Imaging (“Touchstone”) for their potential violations of HIPAA...
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HIPAA Audits 101: Your Compliance State Under Review
Hello, HIPAA The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, better know as HIPAA, was passed by Congress in 1996 and called for the protection and confidential handling of protected health...
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Ransomware: The Trend That Never Goes out of Style
Ransomware is not a new type of cyber-attack. In fact, it’s been around for years, but don’t let its age fool you; ransomware is not “yesterday’s news”. Ransomware is just as alive as ever before,...
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Quest Diagnostics Data Breach Could Impact Nearly 12 Million Patients
Quest Diagnostics, one of the country’s largest blood testing providers announced on Monday that nearly 12 million patients may have had their sensitive information compromised in a data breach. The...
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Preventing Medical Identity Theft
Earlier this month, a data breach affecting Quest Diagnostics, LabCorp, and Opko was announced, stemming from an incident caused by the collections vendor, American Medical Collection Agency (AMCA)....
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NEO Urology Suffers Ransomware Attack, Pays $75,000 Ransom
Cybercriminals continue to flex their muscles on the healthcare industry with ransomware hitting an Ohio medical practice earlier this month. NEO Urology in Boardman, Ohio, suffered a complex...
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Lawsuit Filed Against the University of Chicago Medical Center and Google...
A potential class action lawsuit has been filed against the University of Chicago Medical Center (UChicago Medicine) by a former patient, claiming his and thousands of other patients’ medical records...
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Scrolling Through the Breaches
Every day in my newsfeed I’m alerted to yet another compromise to patient information. The headline isn’t always the attention-grabbing ones that we see when major credit companies or big-box...
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Why We Need to Go Beyond HIPAA
HIPAA – Then & Now The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, better known as HIPAA, has been around since 1996, with the intent to protect patients by properly handling their...
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Ransomware Hits Hundreds of Dental Offices
A Toothache Beyond Repair Hackers have used the very software that hundreds of dentists relied on to run their business, to bring it to their knees. A ransomware attack is responsible for shutting...
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Compliance & Cybersecurity Go Hand-In-Hand
Humans or HIPAA? When it comes to healthcare organizations addressing the HIPAA compliance of their business, many feel prepared and comfortable, readily checking that “compliant” box. But addressing...
View ArticleRight to Access was Implemented to Protect Patients but is Hurting Patients &...
The following blog was written for the HIPAA Secure Now community by DataFile Technologies, a leading provider of health data management including fast records release services with a 24-hour...
View ArticleRight to Access was Implemented to Protect Patients but is Hurting Patients &...
We previously published Part 1 of this article on abuses of Patient Right to Access for medical records and how these abuses can overburden healthcare providers and put patient health information at...
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Dental Practice’s Response to Yelp Review Leads to $10,000 Fine
When it’s YOU in the Review Making dinner plans? Check online for reviews before you spend your money dining out. Ready to book a vacation? You’re definitely making sure the pool is as big as they...
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$85,000 Settlement in OCR’s First HIPAA Right to Access Case
HIPAA Enforcement is Happening Enforcement is in action. That’s what Bayfront Health-St. Petersburg recently learned when they agreed to pay $85,000 in penalties to the Department of Health &...
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Importance of a Risk Assessment
HIPAA Requirement While it is required within HIPAA rules and regulations to complete a risk assessment regularly, the question may still be in your mind regarding WHY you have to do this. The legal...
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OCR Issues $2.15 Million Fine to Jackson Health System
HIPAA compliance doesn’t care if you’re a small business or a non-profit. This isn’t said in a disrespectful manner to the laws that govern the policies, but to make you aware that your business...
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