Childhood Obesity Preventer

In an increasingly connected healthcare landscape, health centers face a dual challenge: the rising tide of cyber threats and the need to comply with stringent data protection regulations, all while managing limited resources. The ever-evolving nature of cyberattacks and the complexity of compliance requirements make it essential for health centers to prioritize cybersecurity tasks effectively.
Many Health Center leaders, IT Managers, and Compliance Directors are trying to ensure that they are properly addressing the ongoing tasks related to compliance and security. This guide provides the baseline of day-to-day tasks that health center IT and Compliance staff should consider to protect their systems and comply with regulatory requirements.

This webinar discussed the importance and unique considerations for cyberthreats in pediatric health care settings, followed by a Security Risk Assessment (SRA) Tool walkthrough.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have announced an increased and imminent cybercrime threat to U.S. hospitals and healthcare providers.  
 
CISA, FBI, and HHS have released AA20-302A Ransomware Activity Targeting the Healthcare and Public Health Sector that details both the threat and practices that healthcare organizations should continuously engage in to help manage the risk posed by ransomware and other cyber threats. The advisory references the joint CISA MS-ISAC Ransomware Guide that provides a ransomware response checklist that can serve as a ransomware-specific addendum to organization cyber incident response plans. 

It has been noted that hackers are using Ryuk ransomware — malicious software used to encrypt data and keep it locked up — and the Trickbot network of infected computers to steal data, disrupt health care services and extort money from health care facilities. Such data hijacking often cripples online systems, forcing many to pay up to millions of dollars to restore their services.

Find links and further documentation below

The HIPAA Security Rule establishes the requirements for protection of electronic patient health information. The safeguards identified are made up of three domains that include administrative, physical, and technical safeguards that need to be addressed. The technical safeguards as defined within 45 CFR §164.312 of the HIPAA Security Rule can be some of the most difficult to comprehend and implement for smaller Health Centers with lower levels of IT and security staffing. Resources and tools that help Health Centers better process and implement these security requirements are much needed and require well-documented methods for planning and maintaining critical security controls.

To successfully attest, providers must conduct a security risk assessment (SRA), implement updates as needed, and correctly identify security deficiencies. By conducting an SRA regularly, providers can identify and document potential threats and vulnerabilities related to data security, and develop a plan of action to mitigate them.

Since 2010, the healthcare industry has seen a remarkable increase in the use of technology in the administration and delivery in healthcare. This has led to a mass migration of data from paper charts and isolated systems to Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) and interconnected systems that transmit patient health and financial information across trusted and untrusted networks. While this has been a boon for the industry in its ability to provide timely information to those who need it the most, this transition has introduced a great deal of risk to the confidentiality and integrity of the information. Coupled with the fact that the information can be quickly monetized by criminals through insurance fraud and identity theft, the ecosystem is target-rich.

Data breaches in healthcare are consistently high in terms of volume, frequency, impact, and cost. High-level breaches are increasingly occurring in a more targeted manner toward health centers. This presentation provides Health Center leadership and trainers with a template to use to build out their own organization-specific presentation on breach.

A well-done security risk assessment (SRA) will identify security vulnerabilities across the breadth of a healthcare organization's health information systems. Factors will include policy, organizational and technical related requirements to privacy and security measures. ONC, in recognizing the complexity of this task for small to medium healthcare providers developed a toolkit to assist in conducting SRAs.

In order to comply with the Security Rule of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), you need to maintain an ongoing security program. The HIPAA Security Rule mandates security standards to safeguard electronic protected health information (ePHI) maintained by electronic health record (EHR) technology, with detailed attention to how ePHI is stored, accessed, transmitted, and audited. This rule is different from the HIPAA Privacy Rule, which requires safeguards to protect the privacy of protected health information (PHI) and sets limits and conditions on the use and disclosure of PHI. 

From the ONC YouTube website:

HIPAA requires practices to assess their PHI as part of their risk management process. Learn more about a risk assessment and how your practice can benefit.