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Hacking Incident Impacts 68,000 Patients at Medical Colleagues of Texas
Medical Colleagues of Texas, a physicians’ group in Katy, TX., has discovered an unauthorized individual gained access to its system containing the records of more than 68,000 patients. The exact nature of the incident has not been disclosed and an investigation into the security breach is ongoing. The physicians’ group was unaware how access was…
Read MoreDetroit Area Doctor Sentenced to 45 Years in Prison for Health Care Fraud Scheme
A Detroit area hematologist-oncologist was sentenced today to serve 45 years in prison for his role in a health care fraud scheme that included administering medically unnecessary infusions or injections to 553 individual patients and submitting to Medicare and private insurance companies approximately $34 million in fraudulent claims. Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of…
Read MoreUCLA Hacked Up to 4.5 Million Patients and Hospital Staff Members Exposed
The University of California, Los Angeles Health System (UCLA) has reported it has been targeted by hackers who potentially accessed and copied a database containing the Protected Health Information (PHI) of up to 4.5 million patients and hospital staff members. The UCLA Health network consists of four hospitals: The Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, UCLA…
Read MoreNew Jersey Doctor Sentenced To 14 Months In Prison For Taking Bribes In Test-Referrals Scheme Involving New Jersey Clinical Lab
NEWARK, N.J. – A doctor with a medical practice in Montclair, New Jersey, was sentenced today to 14 months in prison for accepting bribes in exchange for test referrals as part of a long-running and elaborate scheme operated by Biodiagnostic Laboratory Services LLC (BLS), of Parsippany, New Jersey, its president and numerous associates, U.S. Attorney…
Read MoreImproper Dumping Lawsuit Filed Against HIPAA Business Associate By Illinois AG
Lisa Madigan, the Illinois Attorney General, has filed a lawsuit against a Northbrook HIPAA Business Associate (BA) for failing to destroy medical records prior to disposal. The BA is alleged to have exposed the PHI of at least 1,500 individual patients. The complaint says that the attorney general’s investigators found 1,500 medical records at Shred…
Read MoreTop 10 Questions Most Organizations Fail During a HIPAA Audit
Top 10 Questions Most Organizations Fail During a HIPAA Audit Forget about a full-blown HIPAA audit with over 192 questions for covered entities (CE’s), most organizations fail and are considered out of compliance within the first 10 questions. HIPAA in the past few years has become the latest 5 letter bad word in the healthcare…
Read MoreDepartment of Justice Releases Breach Response Best Practice Guide
The Cybersecurity Unit of the U.S Department of Justice (DOJ) has produced a new set of guidelines to assist organizations prepare for data breaches to enable them to take prompt action to mitigate damage and address security vulnerabilities. The DOJ felt that smaller organizations were unsure about the correct breach response, and aimed its guidance…
Read MoreOperator of Detroit Adult Day Care Center and Two Home Health Care Company Owners Sentenced in $29 Million Medicare Fraud Conspiracy
WASHINGTON – The former operator of a Detroit adult day care center and two former owners of Detroit-area home health care companies were sentenced to prison today for their roles in a $29 million Medicare fraud scheme. Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Barbara L. McQuade of…
Read MoreNew HIPAA Breach Report Confirms Healthcare Hacking Increase
The cybersecurity threat faced by the healthcare industry has been widely reported as being at a critical level, yet data on the actual threat level is in short supply. A survey was recently commissioned by HITRUST – to investigate the actual threat level and this week a review of reported data breaches has been published…
Read MoreMICROSOFT OFFICE 365 ACHIEVES TOP RATING FOR HIPAA COMPLIANCE
Microsoft Office 365 cloud services for the healthcare industry has recently achieved the highest possible HITRUST CSF rating – achieving a maximum score of five – in a certification review of its security and privacy controls initiated by Centura Health. The Health Information Trust Alliance (HITRUST) Common Security Framework (CSF) is a scalable, prescriptive and…
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