Health IT Emergency Response Plan Assessment Tool
Health IT Emergency Response Plan Assessment Tool
The Health IT Emergency Response Plan Assessment Tool helps health centers evaluate and enhance their emergency plans, focusing on optimizing Health IT use during crises.
Addressing Cybersecurity Threats in Health Centers
This article uses the 2020 incident at the Family Health Center of Worcester (FHCW) to explore innovative strategies to bolster health centers' cybersecurity, including leveraging group purchasing organizations (GPOs) for discounted solutions and implementing bug bounty programs to proactively strengthen systems. Ultimately, it investigates how these approaches can protect vital community health resources from the escalating tide of cyber threats.
Health Center Emergency Response Exercise Set
The exercise cards in this set present scenarios and response-related questions designed to provide a quick (5–10 minute) method for health center staff to: Refresh knowledge of the content in their emergency and cyber incident response plans; Examine and troubleshoot procedures in their emergency and cyber incident response plans; Identify improvements to their emergency and cyber incident response plans; and Increase staff capacity to operationalize the actions outlined in their emergency and cyber incident response plans. The scenarios and questions on these cards can serve as a starting point to spark discussions amongst your team about scenarios and responses that are specific to the context of your health center (e.g., what extreme weather events are most common in your area?). The first five cases describe environmental scenarios, and the last two cases describe cybersecurity scenarios.
Health Center Resilience in the Face of Cyber Adversity
The use of ransomware — malicious software that restricts access to computer systems with financial demands — has escalated, targeting health centers and putting countless lives at risk. This dire reality came to the forefront during the alarming ransomware attack on the Family Health Center of Worcester, Inc. (FHCW), where the personal health information and care continuity for thousands of patients were compromised. This resource uses FHCW's experience as a case study to demonstrate the imperative of preparedness and the strength of a community-centered response in ensuring the continuity of healthcare services amidst the ever-growing tide of cyber vulnerabilities.
HITEQ Highlights: Enabling a Cyber-Resilient Health Center
HITEQ Highlights: Enabling a Cyber-Resilient Health Center
In this HITEQ Highlight, we aim to strengthen Health Centers' capacity to build their cyber-resiliency. We will cover risk management tools, methods for guarding against cybersecurity assaults, operationalizing cybersecurity to mitigate risks, and breach mitigation tactics. Participants will focus on safeguarding data across the entire enterprise and examine approaches to implementing cybersecurity infrastructure through risk management frameworks and strategic risk assessment. This session includes a case study of the Family Health Center of Worcester's Ransomware Incident presented by CEO Louis Brady.