HIPAA / Healthcare Industry

A new technological era is upon us. Over the last 25 years, the meteoric rise of computers, smartphones, and other electronic devices have infused our world with a new sense of possibility. With it comes the need for higher security measures and data protection. That holds double for the healthcare industry.

With the type of information stored away in electronic health records (EHRs), healthcare organizations have a responsibility to secure the sensitive information provided by their patients. And according to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), signed into law in 1996, they do. It’s called protected health information (PHI).

But what is protected health information? And how does it differ from consumer health information (CHI), another term thrown around the health-tech sector? For everything you need to know, read ahead.

When it was first introduced in 1996, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act [HIPAA] was intended to completely reshape the healthcare landscape, ushering it into the 21st century. In truth, its initial rollout was a failure, seeing as it lacked the teeth necessary to enforce compliance. However, over the years, the release of additional rules and measures such as HITECH have buffed up the enforcement protocols.

Today, if your business is found guilty of a breach or violation of HIPAA’s rules, you can face some stiff repercussions. Therefore, it’s crucial that you know what breaches are, the penalties for such breaches, and measures you can take to comply with HIPAA. 

Want to know what is considered a breach of HIPAA? Below, we’ll cover this and more so that your business and its private data is safe and secure.

Has the Healthcare industry truly learned anything from the 2015 Anthem breach?

Judging by the results of the latest Security Scorecard report, the industry is still unprepared to face existing and known Cybersecurity risks, let alone counter emerging risks presented via expanded mobile and IoT threat vectors. Security Scorecard collected data from 1,200+ Healthcare companies and 1) found how the industry performs relative to other major U.S. industries and 2) uncovered absolute weaknesses within Healthcare organizations.