HITEQ Health Center Childhood Obesity Preventer Badge

Supporting young patients in achieving and maintaining a healthy BMI and living healthy, active lives is critical to their ability to live full, healthy, and happy lives. Health centers improve the health of their patients and community by addressing child and adolescent weight.

The resources below are the product of a HRSA-MCHB collaboration, highlighting important evidence-based tools from Bright Futures as well as tools from HITEQ to improve the use of your EHR and health IT systems to support implementation of promising practice.

Visit the 4 part webinar series and their related resources linked below on this page and then fill out the submission form on the right and you will be rewarded with a Childhood Obesity Preventer badge!​ 

This is an official badge that is submitted by the HITEQ Center as a proof of completion to the blockchain. Your badge can be added to profiles such as LinkedIn and verified through accreditation services such as Accredible and Open Badge.

 

 

Health Center Resilience in the Face of Cyber Adversity

A Case Study of the Family Health Center of Worcester’s Ransomware Incident, February 2024

Molly Rafferty 0 304
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 Webinar

Jodie Albert 0 1285

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.

Improving Health Center Cybersecurity: Risk Assessment, Breach Defense, Mitigation and Response - Session 4

Virtual Learning Collaborative

Nye Day 0 1769

It's time to reconsider your strategy if you still treat cyber risk as an annual project or initiative. Having a thorough ongoing program in place means that even in the worst-case scenario, you'll be ready to demonstrate that you did what was reasonable and appropriate to protect your systems and patient data. Nothing can guarantee that a cyberattack won't become a breach. Health Centers are a domain with a high potential for data breaches, and the risk continues to grow as health centers use new tools and the introduction of artificial intelligence (AI). As a result, it is crucial for health center leadership to adopt breach prevention strategies across their entire organization, as opposed to relegating it to the IT department. 

To support health centers in their cybersecurity strategy and implementation, the HITEQ Center offered a free learning collaborative -- Improving Health Center Cybersecurity: Risk Assessment, Breach Defense, Mitigation, and Response. This learning collaborative involved four structured virtual learning sessions. During the series participants engaged with subject matter experts and their colleagues in peer-to-peer learning and discussion. Topics included: health center breach mitigation tactics, operationalizing cybersecurity to better mitigate risks, cybersecurity implications of generative artificial intelligence in health centers, and incident response planning from a cybersecurity perspective.

 

Session 4: Cybersecurity Incident Response Planning for Health Centers

According to IBM's annual Cost of Data Breach Report, the average cost of a data breach for a healthcare organization is more than $10 million. Having a well-documented cybersecurity incident response plan is essential and required for all Health Centers due to the sensitivity of the patient data they are responsible for maintaining. The cost and damage caused by a data breach is often exorbitant, but a strategic incident plan can help to significantly mitigate such effects, and potentially, prevent them from occurring in the first place. This session will provide an overview of incident response planning requirements for health centers and review established workflows for common incident response scenarios such as ransomware attacks.

 

Improving Health Center Cybersecurity: Risk Assessment, Breach Defense, Mitigation, and Response Learning Collaborative - Session 3

Virtual Learning Collaborative

Nye Day 0 1612

It's time to reconsider your strategy if you still treat cyber risk as an annual project or initiative. Having a thorough ongoing program in place means that even in the worst-case scenario, you'll be ready to demonstrate that you did what was reasonable and appropriate to protect your systems and patient data. Nothing can guarantee that a cyberattack won't become a breach. Health Centers are a domain with a high potential for data breaches, and the risk continues to grow as health centers use new tools and the introduction of artificial intelligence (AI). As a result, it is crucial for health center leadership to adopt breach prevention strategies across their entire organization, as opposed to relegating it to the IT department. 

To support health centers in their cybersecurity strategy and implementation, the HITEQ Center is offering a free learning collaborative -- Improving Health Center Cybersecurity: Risk Assessment, Breach Defense, Mitigation, and Response. This learning collaborative will involve four structured virtual learning sessions. During the series participants engaged with subject matter experts and their colleagues in peer-to-peer learning and discussion. Topics included: health center breach mitigation tactics, operationalizing cybersecurity to better mitigate risks, cybersecurity implications of generative artificial intelligence in health centers, and incident response planning from a cybersecurity perspective.

Session 3: Cybersecurity Implications of Generative Artificial Intelligence in Health Centers

Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies (e.g., ChatGPT, Google Bard) has exploded in 2023, catapulting new forms of rapid processing of text, audio, visual data (i.e., large language models and machine learning) to the forefront including in healthcare. The rapid rise forces health centers to grapple with what possibilities AI has to offer and it’s many potential risks. Both in terms of provision of care as well as in management of IT and related services. As these new tools are introduced and integrated to address acute and future needs, it becomes critically important to ensure that patients' data remains secure. This session will discuss recommendations and strategies for assessing risk and improving cybersecurity policies and procedures in relation to AI and it’s attendant technologies.

 

Improving Health Center Cybersecurity: Risk Assessment, Breach Defense, Mitigation and Response - Session 2

Virtual Learning Collaborative

Nye Day 0 1513

It's time to reconsider your strategy if you still treat cyber risk as an annual project or initiative. Having a thorough ongoing program in place means that even in the worst-case scenario, you'll be ready to demonstrate that you did what was reasonable and appropriate to protect your systems and patient data. Nothing can guarantee that a cyberattack won't become a breach. Health Centers are a domain with a high potential for data breaches, and the risk continues to grow as health centers use new tools and the introduction of artificial intelligence (AI). As a result, it is crucial for health center leadership to adopt breach prevention strategies across their entire organization, as opposed to relegating it to the IT department. 

To support health centers in their cybersecurity strategy and implementation, the HITEQ Center is offering a free learning collaborative -- Improving Health Center Cybersecurity: Risk Assessment, Breach Defense, Mitigation, and Response. This learning collaborative will involve four structured virtual learning sessions. During the series participants will engage with subject matter experts and their colleagues in peer-to-peer learning and discussion. Topics will include: health center breach mitigation tactics, operationalizing cybersecurity to better mitigate risks, cybersecurity implications of generative artificial intelligence in health centers, and incident response planning from a cybersecurity perspective.

Session 2: Health Center Hacking Combat and Breach Response Strategies for Awareness, Management, and Training

In this session, we discussed breach mitigation, ways in which to operationalize cybersecurity in order to better mitigate risks, reviewed risk management tools, and methods for defending against cybersecurity attacks. Breach can occur through both internal and external network leaks, through malware such as ransomware and through physical means on site. We covered topics related to general knowledge about breach mitigation, methods for mitigating against breach incidences, and addressing gaps in health center defenses.

 

 

Improving Health Center Cybersecurity: Risk Assessment, Breach Defense, Mitigation and Response - Session 1

Virtual Learning Collaborative

Nye Day 0 1916

It's time to reconsider your strategy if you still treat cyber risk as an annual project or initiative. Having a thorough ongoing program in place means that even in the worst-case scenario, you'll be ready to demonstrate that you did what was reasonable and appropriate to protect your systems and patient data. Nothing can guarantee that a cyberattack won't become a breach. Health Centers are a domain with a high potential for data breaches, and the risk continues to grow as health centers use new tools and the introduction of artificial intelligence (AI). As a result, it is crucial for health center leadership to adopt breach prevention strategies across their entire organization, as opposed to relegating it to the IT department.

To support health centers in their cybersecurity strategy and implementation, the HITEQ Center is offering a free learning collaborative -- Improving Health Center Cybersecurity: Risk Assessment, Breach Defense, Mitigation, and Response. This learning collaborative will involve four structured virtual learning sessions. During the series participants will engage with subject matter experts and their colleagues in peer-to-peer learning and discussion. Topics will include: health center breach mitigation tactics, operationalizing cybersecurity to better mitigate risks, cybersecurity implications of generative artificial intelligence in health centers, and incident response planning from a cybersecurity perspective.

Session 1: Identifying and Assessing Cybersecurity Risks at Your Health Center
In the kick-off to our cybersecurity learning collaborative, we sought to build knowledge and increase Health Centers' capacity to effectively prepare for and defend against the current onslaught of malware and ransomware attacks being levied against them. Participants looked at ways to build cybersecurity infrastructure through risk management frameworks and strategic risk assessment, with a focus on protecting information across the whole organization.
 

A Guide to Essential Cybersecurity Tasks for Health Centers

For health centers with limited resources, developed in June 2023

HITEQ Center 0 2345

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.

Cybersecurity: Ask Me Anything

HITEQ Highlights Webinar

Jodie Albert 0 5014

This session sought to motivate and educate Health Center staff and leadership on current critical cybersecurity threats, concepts, and methods for the defense of health data. A panel of cybersecurity experts addressed questions on how to best protect the health center from both internal and external network leaks, through malware such as ransomware, and through physical means on-site.

 

Strategic Cybersecurity Investments: Leveraging American Rescue Plan Funding to Enhance Infrastructure and Services

HITEQ Highlights webinar

Molly Rafferty 0 15962

Healthcare continues to be the sector most targeted globally by ransomware and related malware attacks and leads in the average total cost of data breach across industries. The FY 2021 American Rescue Plan Funding provides an excellent opportunity for Health Centers to make strategic investments in cybersecurity infrastructure and services. This HITEQ Highlight, presented by Adam Kehler of Online Business Systems provides an overview of assets that can increase Health Center cybersecurity. Topics covered include cybersecurity infrastructure and services that can increase defense-in-depth for health IT, including EHRs, telehealth tools and services, mobile medical devices, patient portals, and related health information software applications.

Note: You can view our American Rescue Plan: Budget Your Cybersecurity Investments guidance document in the Documents to Download section below. An accessible version of the handout is is also available in the Documents to Download section. 

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Health Center Childhood Obesity Preventer Badge