HIPAA & Healthcare Compliance Blog

HIPAA and Password Security: Best Practices for Protecting Your Health Care Information Online

If you work in the healthcare industry, you know how important it is to protect the privacy and security of your patient's health information. You also know that HIPAA, the federal law that regulates health information, requires you to do so. But did you know that one of the most common ways hackers and cybercriminals [...]

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Cyber Security and HIPAA

It should be well understood that malicious cyber activity threatens the public’s safety and our national and economic security. The threat of cybercrime is such that the Federal Government has made the FBI the lead federal agency for investigating cyber-attacks and intrusions. In addition to the FBI, the Federal Government has other agencies and legislation

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Security Incidents

As stated in the Homeland Security website: "Across the country, in our communities, we share everyday moments with our neighbors, family, coworkers, and friends. We go to work or school, the grocery store, or the gas station. It's easy to overlook these routine moments, but as you're going about your day, if you see something

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Common HIPAA Security Threats

In the article "How to Keep Unwanted Eyes From Spying on Your Security Cameras" dated September 16, 2019, Ms. Rachel Cericola mentioned stories about families hearing voices and threats coming from their home's security devices. This incident is not uncommon as the news has discussed this topic and even shown actual videos of hackers accessing

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Telecommunication and Cybersecurity

Access to information through the internet has become more and more in demand. This need has particularly accelerated since last year, 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic started, with most people being homebound due to quarantine restrictions. The use of teleconsultation is one of the modern healthcare technologies and practices that has soared due to the

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Malware

Malware is a term created to encompass a wide variety of types of malware such as computer viruses, worms, Trojan horses, ransomware, spyware, adware, rogue software, and scareware. The problem with malware is that these programs continue to evolve on a continuous basis, with each iteration becoming more dangerous. For Calendar Year 2020, Safety Detectives

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Cyber Security

Top Cybersecurity for 2020 include: Data breaches exposed 4.1 billion records in the first half of 2019. (RiskBased) 71% of breaches were financially motivated and 25% were motivated by espionage. (Verizon) 52% of breaches featured hacking, 28% involved malware and 32–33% included phishing or social engineering, respectively. (Verizon) The most common causes of data breach:

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Accounting of Disclosures

45 CFR § 164.528 HIPAA Privacy Rule currently requires covered entities to make available, upon request, an accounting of certain disclosures of an individual’s PHI made up to six years prior to the request. Accounting should include date, name of recipient (and address, if known), brief description of the PHI disclosed and purpose of disclosure.

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EPICourses HIPAA & Healthcare Education Compliance Explainer Video

At EPICourses we supply federally mandated HIPAA Compliance education courses online. And, in keeping with evolving cybersecurity issues and audit defense requirements, we cover both Title 2 mandates separately: HIPAA Privacy and HIPAA Security. Every year all employees and contractors of Covered Entities and Business Associates must prove that these courses have been completed. We

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Cyber Security Facts

There is a hacker attack every 39 seconds https://www.securitymagazine.com/articles/87787-hackers-attack-every-39-seconds Over 75% of healthcare industry has been infected with malware over last year https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/report-reveals-healthcare-industry-lacking-in-basic-security-awareness-among-staff-putting-entire-medical-infrastructure-at-risk-300352485.html 95% of cybersecurity breaches are due to human error https://www.cybintsolutions.com/employee-education-reduces-risk In 2018 hackers stole half a billion personal records https://www.nbcnews.com/business/consumer/you-ve-been-breached-hackers-stole-nearly-half-billion-personal-n966496 Phishing, ransomware and crypto jacking are the 2019 most significant cybersecurity threats

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Cyber Tools

From the Department of the US Navy the definition of Cyber Tools is – “A program used for software development or system maintenance. Virtually any program or utility that helps programmers or users develop applications or maintain their computers can be called a tool.” In short, cyber crime continues to increase. Cyber criminals use a

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How can professional and compliance certifications improve careers and benefit organizations?

Generally, all industries and organizations' gold standard would be the highest productivity, well-managed and minimal risks, while providing impeccable customer service. These goals compounded with intensifying government and industry-imposed regulations and compliance requirements meant the organizations and their workforce will have more to work on and accomplish. Achieving the relevant professional and compliance certifications has

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HHS OCR Issued New Fact Sheet Concerning Business Associates Direct Liability Under HIPAA

A new Fact Sheet was recently issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office for Civil Rights (OCR) enumerating a list of HIPAA rule prohibitions that deems the Business Associate directly accountable and subject for enforcement action. A “Business Associate” under the HIPAA Privacy Rule, is defined as “a person or

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Annual HIPAA Education

It is a federally mandated requirement for all individuals and organizations in the health-care related industry to show proof of Annual education compliance training for HIPAA (The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act). HIPAA laws are strictly enforced by the OCR (Office of Civil Rights). Annual compliance training for all employees in health-care related industries

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What are your risks of audit and fine: HIPAA, Medicare, OSHA for Healthcare†

Common experience and our data† suggest that the offices/entities/practitioners subjected to HIPAA and Medicare billing (ACA/OIG) audits and fines and healthcare office OSHA audits and inspection are in the following relative percentages: HIPAA – 35.9% Medicare ACA/OIG – 56.1% OSHA – 8.0% Discussion: Although HIPAA fine exposure is relatively low compared to Medicare audit exposure,

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Poor Healthcare Workplace Safety Performance According to Latest Data

The Occupational Safety and Health Regulation (OSHA) Act has been in place since 1970. With its strict and comprehensive regulations and standards it is expected that most, if not all, of the safety aspects in each employees respective workplaces are well guarded. However, safety in workplaces is a two-way street, so to speak.In one hand,

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