Health IT, HIPAA, and the CMS Incentive Programs Blog
For physicians, hospitals, government agencies, and business associatesOver 2,400 patients affected by data breach at UMass Memorial Medical
Employee misbehavior using access privileges for the purpose of identity theft has led to yet another data breach. Notice was sent to more than 2,400 patients at UMass Memorial Medical Center (UMMMC) in Worcester, MA regarding potential identify theft. On March 6,...
4th Annual Patient Privacy and Data Security Survey Results Released by Ponemon
The Fourth Annual Patient Privacy and Data Security Survey, published in March, revealed new and expanded threats to the security and privacy of patient information in the U.S. healthcare system. The independent survey was completed by the Ponemon Institute and...
Boston Medical Center vendor causes data breach
Boston Medical Center, a 496-bed academic medical center in Boston, discovered a data breach on March 3 when the records of 15,000 patients were posted online by a vendor. The records, which contained patients’ names, addresses, and medical information, including what...
Data Breach at UPMC leaked personal information of 27,000 employees
A data breach at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) originally thought to have compromised the privacy of 332 employees, may actually have over 27,000 victims according to a recent Pittsburgh Tribune-Review report. The alleged breach involved the...
FBI Expects Increase in Cyber Attacks Targeting Healthcare Industry
The FBI recently issued two private industry notices (PINs) to the healthcare sector, warning that cyber-attacks against devices and systems in that industry are likely to increase. The notices were issued to a number of undisclosed and unidentified organizations in...
Windows XP Users at Risk – Upgrade now if at all possible!
Microsoft announced over the weekend that all versions of Internet Explorer have a “serious security hole” that hackers can use to take over a computer and hijack your computer. In their announcement, Microsoft stated that they are aware of limited, targeted attacks...
Tufts Health Plan data breach affects 9,000 Medicare subscribers
Tufts Health Plan, who offers health insurance plans for Medicare Advantage, individual or group health insurance in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, announced in an April 24 press release that a security breach had exposed the personal information of 8,830 seniors who...
Encryption is key to prevent healthcare security breach, per Joy Pritts
Encryption is the single most essential technology to use for healthcare security breach prevention, according to Joy Pritts, chief privacy officer at the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT. In an interview with Healthcare Info Security, Pritts states...
