by Gary Pritts | Feb 27, 2014 | HIPAA
One item in the OIG 2014 Work Plan is to examine the controls over networked medical devices. That’s right. Yet another government entity, the OIG, plans to scrutinize hospital IT / Biomedical security. The OIG indicates that biomedical equipment is “increasingly...
by Gary Pritts | Feb 26, 2014 | Health Information Technology
OIG Work Plan Highlights, Privacy and Security Measures – Part 1 The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) Work Plan for fiscal year 2014 was published on January 31st. It includes several measures related to privacy and...
by Gary Pritts | Feb 24, 2014 | HIPAA
There has been quite a bit of activity from the HHS Office of Civil Rights (OCR) related to health information privacy. Consumers and medical providers should take note of the following: A Spanish version of the Model Notices of Privacy Practices (NPP) has been issued...
by Gary Pritts | Feb 20, 2014 | DD Boards
Two representatives from HHS Office of Civil Rights (OCR) presented on February 19, 2014 to about 70 members of the Ohio Association of County Boards of Developmental Disabilities Tech Alliance (OACBDD Tech Alliance). Sifting through the information presented, here...
by Gary Pritts | Feb 20, 2014 | DD Boards
Wanda Hardy and Jeffrey Dunifon, both of the Office of Civil Rights Region 5, yesterday presented to the OACBDD Tech Alliance yesterday at the Delaware County Board facilities. The 1 day program was dedicated to HIPAA compliance. Among the many best-practices...
by Gary Pritts | Feb 19, 2014 | DD Boards
OCR Investigators Wandah Hardy and Jeffrey Dunifon, both from Office of Civil Rights Region 5, presented today to approximately 70 representatives from Ohio Developmental Disability (DD) Boards at a special program organized by the Ohio DD Board Tech Alliance. We will...
by Gary Pritts | Feb 17, 2014 | Health Information Technology
Medical practices and other healthcare organizations who use consumer-grade networking equipment made by Linksys should take immediate steps to mitigate attacks that are spreading after researchers at the SANS Institute reported the outbreak of a self-replicating worm...
by Gary Pritts | Feb 13, 2014 | HIPAA
[Editor’s Note: During 2016 Healthcare experienced a dramatic increase of virulent ransomware attacks. Please also see a more a more comprehensive list of security contols in the post Preventing and Mitigating Ransomware Attacks, posted 10/4/2016.] A nasty...
by Gary Pritts | Feb 10, 2014 | CMS Quality Payment Programs
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has extended the deadline for physicians and other eligible professionals to attest to meaningful use for the Medicare EHR Incentive Program 2013 reporting year. Also, some hospitals are being offered the...
by Gary Pritts | Feb 4, 2014 | HIPAA
Several recent enforcement actions from the HHS Office of Civil Rights, along with OCR’s consistent messaging, have highlighted the importance of the HIPAA security risk analysis for healthcare organizations. Further, recent cases make it clear that a...
