Explore HIPAA compliance resources for the healthcare industry. Learn requirements, privacy rules, and best practices to safeguard patient data and avoid violations.
Healthcare risk assessment tools are a crucial component of cybersecurity that ensures the safety of your patient data and critical systems in your healthcare practice.
15 percent of all cyber-attacks targeted the healthcare industry in 2020, with most of those threats being malware and ransomware attacks. However, due to technological advancement in the healthcare sector, emerging security threats are on the rise.
The COVID-19 pandemic forced businesses to adapt to a new normal. Work from home mandates pushed some firms to become fully remote, while others had to shutter completely. Severely impacted healthcare providers were on the frontlines navigating the virus and re-configuring their workspaces, personnel, and patient relationships. Telemedicine has also been widely adopted and expanded during the pandemic.
Businesses within and adjacent to the healthcare industry must follow strenuous controls to safeguard the class of data known as “protected health information” (PHI). Per the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), de-identification is one central protection element. An innovative option available to businesses that need HIPAA compliance is an approach called “safe harbor.”
It is easy to imagine the kind of challenges doctors, nurses, and other health care professionals face when fighting to keep us healthy. There is no need to add the extra pressure that comes with a potential cyberattack. Without a robust security architecture, your patients’ data is at risk of exposure, which could pose a severe privacy risk. But without proper staff training, the potential fallout can compound, which in the worst case could result in loss of life.
Cybersecurity threats in healthcare can cause dire financial and legal damage to organizations as hackers test the healthcare industry’s security and resilience.
For businesses in the healthcare industry, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) is essential for keeping clients and stakeholders safe. HIPAA defines what counts as “protected health information” (PHI), and its three prescriptive rules (Privacy, Security, and Breach Reporting) ensure its protection. The fourth, the HIPAA Enforcement Rule, defines what happens when a company fails to follow the other three.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) significantly improved the healthcare industry’s cybersecurity landscape. HIPAA’s impacts went beyond the healthcare practices and associated businesses; there are also several HIPAA patient rights granted to healthcare consumers. At the most basic level, these include reasonable expectations of privacy and access. Let’s take a closer look.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) has helped healthcare providers protect patients’ information for over 20 years. However, over the years, the number and complexity of cyber threats have grown exponentially. Many companies turn to HIPAA penetration testing to protect their stakeholders and outpace cybercriminals who view healthcare providers as lucrative targets.
Companies in the healthcare industry are attractive targets for cybercrime. That’s why the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) developed the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) to define and safeguard protected health information (PHI). Initially, HIPAA focused on the privacy and security of PHI to curb the number of cyberattacks. But with the passing of the HITECH Act, HHS built on the original framework to specify what companies should do when a HIPAA breach does happen.