September 15th, 2020
Recently, there has been some confusion on whether or not the utilization of personal health information (PHI) to contact patients who have recovered from COVID-19 to provide them with information about donating blood and plasma donations would be permitted under the HIPAA Privacy Rule.
August 31st, 2020
The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued guidance and clarity regarding disclosures of protected health information (PHI) during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) global pandemic.
August 14th, 2020
COVID-19 has changed the way healthcare facilities and medical practices deliver patient care across the world. Most medical practices in the US have re-opened, and the majority are adhering to strict safety procedures provided by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
July 28th, 2020
1) How can a medical practice establish effective medical staff safety protocols?
The CDC recommends the following best practices:
July 17th, 2020
Many private medical practices have re-opened since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and are adhering to the safety guidance set forth by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), OSHA, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
April 24th, 2020
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have provided some helpful preparedness tips for medical offices and clinics to ensure their preparedness for COVID-19 and help protect your patients and healthcare workers. These best practices are critical to helping to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19.
March 18th, 2020
Notification of Enforcement Discretion for Telehealth Remote Communications during the COVID-19 Nationwide Public Health Emergency
March 9th, 2020
MedSafe has been working with our clients for over 25 years to help provide a safe environment for your employees and patients. This continues to be one of our daily objectives.
The Coronavirus has and probably will continue to receive tremendous media coverage that will create a great deal of questions and concerns.
February 13th, 2020
A recent report from Proofpoint provides insights into the most common attacks faced by healthcare organizations. To help better understand the evolving cyberthreat landscape, the report analyzed a year of cyberattacks against healthcare providers, pharmaceutical and life sciences organizations, and health insurers between 2018-2019.
February 5th, 2020
On January 28, 2020, The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a notice regarding legislative modifications made to the HIPAA Omnibus Final Rule of 2013.
February 4th, 2020
In light of the Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is providing this bulletin to ensure that HIPAA covered entities and their business associates are aware of the ways that patient information may be shared under the HIPAA Privacy Rule in an outbreak of infectious disease or other emergency situation, and to serve as a reminder that the protections of the Privacy Rule are not set aside during an emergency.
January 20th, 2020
The US Department of Health and Human Services just released an emergency directive to notify the Health and Public Health Sector of significant vulnerabilities identified in the Microsoft Windows Operating Systems.
January 6th, 2020
Cyberterrorism is on the rise, and this includes phishing attacks. According to a recent report from Verizon, 90% of all data breaches are linked to phishing attacks. With the average cost of a successful phishing attack for a medium-sized business totalling $1.6 million, it is critical to ensure employees are educated on how to identify these scams before they cause catastrophic damage.
December 16th, 2019
As the holiday season draws near, MedSafe urges healthcare organizations and employees to be aware of online scams. Phishing attacks are on the rise with the highest rates since 2016, according to the Phishing Activity Trends Report.
December 3rd, 2019
Is texting HIPAA compliant? The answer to this question is not as simple as it may seem. With more and more medical professionals relying on their personal mobile devices for communication, texting has become a significant challenge for healthcare organizations nationwide. Whether or not texting is HIPAA compliant largely depends upon what is texted, who is texted, and what mechanisms are in place to ensure the integrity of Protected Health Information (PHI).
November 14th, 2019
HIPAA Breaches can cost healthcare organizations millions. Healthcare data breaches typically cost more than data breaches in any other industry. In fact, the average cost of a healthcare data breach in the United States is $15 million.
October 15th, 2019
According to a recent study there has been widespread noncompliance with the HIPAA right of access. In fact, more than half of the providers that were assessed in this report were either not fully compliant with the HIPAA law or it took multiple attempts before becoming compliant. (1)
September 30th, 2019
PHI stands for Protected Health Information. According to the HIPAA Privacy Rule, protected health information is identifiable information related to the present, past, or future health status of a patient. It includes all personal health information that is created, collected, transmitted or maintained by a HIPAA-covered entity concerning the provision of healthcare or payment for healthcare services.
September 3rd, 2019
According to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), business associates of HIPAA covered entities may be held liable for noncompliance of certain HIPAA rules and requirements. HHS has provided the following list of HIPAA violations that business associates can be held fully liable.
August 20th, 2019
A recent report published by The Poneman Institute/IBM Security released a comprehensive analysis of data breaches reported in 2018. The report indicated that data breach costs have continued to increase, with healthcare organizations experiencing the costliest cases.