Healthcare data breaches continue to occur at extraordinary rates, leaving analysts challenged to identify the factors associated with data breach occurrences. Between 2009 and 2017, 2,457 healthcare data breaches were reported to the Department of Health and Human Services. Breached facilities face heavy fines and litigation.
Cybercriminals have begun to target the healthcare industry with ransomware, malware that encrypts an infected device and any attached devices or network drives. After encryption, cybercriminals demand a ransom before releasing the devices from encoding. Without adequate disaster recovery and backup plans, many businesses are forced to pay the ransom. We examined the extent of recent ransomware infections in healthcare settings, the risk liabilities and costs associated with such infections, and possible risk mitigation tactics.
The crime of medical identity theft is a growing concern in healthcare institutions. A mixed-method study design including a two-stage electronic survey, telephone survey follow-up, and on-site observations was used to evaluate current practices in admitting and registration departments to reduce the occurrence of medical identity theft.
In Texas, a supplier of durable medical equipment was found guilty of five counts of healthcare fraud due to submission of false claims to Medicare. The court sentenced the supplier to 120 months of incarceration and restitution of $1.6 million.1
Raritan Bay Medical Center agreed to pay the government $7.5 million to settle allegations that it defrauded the Medicare program, purposely inflating
The protection of individuals’ sacred medical stories and a commitment to “safeguard[ing] the confidentiality of medical records” have long been fundamental roles of the health information management (HIM) professional, inherent in the HIM profession throughout its 80-year history.
This study measured attitudes about patient privacy. Participants ranked a collection of 25 patient-specific health information protection measures that have been established as a part of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), effective in April 2003.
Developing research proposals that protect human participants and understanding the institutional review board (IRB) approval process require high-level application of many skills.
