The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently released a report titled “Health Industry Cybersecurity Practices: Managing Threats and Protecting Patients.” HHS details the following notable statistics to underscore the need for continuing improvement in cybersecurity for those in the healthcare industry: (1) in the United States, four out of five physicians have reported experiencing some form of cyberattack; (2) ninety percent of small businesses do not use any data protection for customer information (including the healthcare industry), (3) fifty-eight percent of malware attack victims are small businesses, and (4) healthcare has the highest data breach cost per record of any industry — almost double of the second highest industry, the financial sector. These statistics underscore the need for a robust cybersecurity plan for anyone in the healthcare industry, especially smaller companies or providers who may have traditionally ignored cybersecurity protection measures due to the associated costs.
Continue Reading HHS Issues Voluntary Cybersecurity Guidance for the Healthcare Industry
Huge Relief From eClinicalWorks Decision Not to Hold Customers Liable For Its Vendor’s Actions, But Providers Should Not Drop Their Guard
There are inherent risks in any vendor relationship. In the healthcare industry, with myriad regulatory pitfalls, the stakes can be even higher. Several customers of the cloud-based electronic health record (EHR) software vendor eClinicalWorks were relieved by a recent decision in which regulators decided not to take action against them as a result of the