A newly disclosed collaboration between Google and the massive Ascension healthcare system that the partners say is designed to improve patient care is raising serious privacy concerns. That's because the project involves Ascension sharing with Google data on millions of its patients - without their permission.
With Google aggressively expanding its push into the healthcare sector, critical privacy-related issues are emerging, says regulatory attorney Alisa Chestler, who offers an overview of key issues.
Hacker attacks, IT mishaps and vendor errors are among the top causes of the largest health data breaches added to the official federal tally so far this year. Here's an update.
Federal regulators have slapped two more organizations with hefty HIPAA enforcement fines. They also announced increases to future HIPAA civil monetary penalties to adjust for inflation - a move some observers say could create confusion and uncertainty, given an earlier announcement about cutting penalties.
Many HIPAA enforcement actions taken by federal regulators have chastised organizations for their poor security risk assessments. In light of this ongoing challenge, HHS has released an updated version of its security risk assessment tool, which includes improved asset and vendor risk management features.
Federal regulators have smacked Jackson Health System with a $2.1 million civil monetary penalty for a series of HIPAA violations. The case is one of only a handful in which the nation's HIPAA enforcement agency imposed such a penalty, rather than reach a settlement. What can others learn from this case?
Enforcing patients' rights under HIPAA to access their health information - including via health apps - is a top policy initiative at the HHS Office for Civil Rights, Director Roger Severino said in a Wednesday presentation. He also said a $2.1 million HIPAA penalty would be announced soon.
What should healthcare organizations know about complying with the breach notification and data security requirements of New York's SHIELD Act? And how does the new law compare with HIPAA? Jon Moore, chief risk officer at consulting firm Clearwater, explains.
Ransomware attacks are among the largest incidents added to the federal tally of major health data breaches in recent weeks. Attacks on a variety of clinics affected a total of more than 1 million individuals.
A dental practice in Texas that responded to patients' Yelp reviews by disclosing patient names and other health information has gotten a bad review from federal regulators: A $10,000 HIPAA monetary settlement and a corrective action plan.
What are some of the most important aspects in managing vendor security risk when taking on third parties to handle sensitive data? Mitch Parker, CISO of Indiana University Health, explains the critical steps his organization is taking in its approach to vendor risk.
Proponents of the potential adoption of a national unique patient identifier had been hopeful that the Senate would follow the House's lead in lifting a 20-year ban on funding for federal regulators to work on development. But now they face two substantial hurdles.
The movement to lift the longstanding Congressional ban on federal regulators funding the development or adoption of a national unique patient identifier appears to have hit a roadblock. Here's an update.
A Minnesota county that originally reported last December that a hacking incident affected about 600 individuals now says about 118,000 may have had healthcare data exposed. What's behind the huge spike?
A mishap involving the mailing of breach notification letters has led a Tennessee hospice to issue a "corrective" privacy breach notification. The incident is yet another example of why healthcare organizations need to carefully scrutinize their breach response and notification processes.
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