Andy Brownell reports: The Mayo Clinic has apparently settled another lawsuit stemming from a data breach by a former Mayo Clinic employee. The lawsuit was filed in November 2020 by Olga Ryabchuk and sought class-action status on behalf of the more than 1600 Mayo Clinic patients who had their medical records improperly accessed. The case was officially…
Category: HIPAA
OCR Releases New Recognized Security Practices Video
In recognition of National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, OCR has produced a new video this October for organizations covered under the HIPAA Rules on Recognized Security Practices. Recommended security practices can help organizations improve their ability to safeguard patient information from cyberattacks and better safeguard the health care services we all rely upon. Section 13412 of…
HIPAA Security Rule Security Incident Procedures
HHS OCR’s October newsletter begins: Every October, in recognition of National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, the federal government and its partners work to educate stakeholders on cybersecurity awareness and how best to protect the privacy and security of confidential data. Within the health care industry, the HIPAA Security Rule1 applies to covered entities2 and their business associates3 (“regulated entities”)…
Medical billing service in Florida one of the latest victims of ransomware attacks
Add NCG Medical to business associates who a ransomware attack has compromised. The medical billing service in Florida was added to the Hive ransomware group’s leak site on August 31, with Hive claiming that they encrypted NCG’s files on August 19. The 12-day gap between encryption and publicly revealing the attack is a relatively short…
OCR Settles Case Involving Decade-Long Improper Disposal of Protected Health Information
There is an enforcement update to an incident noted on this site in 2018. The incident that involved New England Dermatology P.C., d/b/a New England Dermatology and Laser Center (“NDELC”) was summarized by HHS in their resolution agreement and corrective action plan for this case: On May 11, 2021, NEDLC filed a breach notification report…
Transparency #FAIL: Why won’t Anthem/Elevance Health answer a simple question about breaches?
A DataBreaches opinion piece. You might think a giant insurer like Anthem, which has experienced at least several breaches over the years — including one of the most significant breaches ever — would understand the importance of transparency by now. Apparently not. On May 24, Anthem (now known as Elevance Health) posted a notice on…