On December 29, 2016, Department of Defense subcontractor Potomac Healthcare was notified about the jeopardizing of more than 11 gigabytes of private data for healthcare workers employed by the U.S. military's Special Operations Command. The compromised files were discovered by white hat hacker, Chris Vickery, who uncovered a flaw in an unprotected remote synchronization service. Upon his discovery, Vickery notified Potomac Healthcare about the insecurity of its data, which contained information dating back to 1988, and included names, locations, Social Security numbers, salaries and assignment units for psychologists, nurses and other Special Operations Command workers, some of which had top secret clearances.

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In an effort to assist our Canadian business, Giva has compiled a listing of upcoming 2017 healthcare IT conferences and summits. We hope this will be helpful to you!

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Consulting agency, Deloitte, is reporting that the healthcare industry will begin to heavily implement Blockchain technology in 2017. Despite the uneven understanding of Blockchain, its possibilities as a distributed database are garnering popularity and adoption from multiple fields. The technology offers advanced security and data storage, as well as interoperability, which makes it an asset in the healthcare field. Health and life sciences are primed to be the two leading industries in Blockchain deployment going forward this year, with financing, manufacturing, media, and telecom services expected to follow suit.

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In an effort to assist our Canadian business, Giva has compiled a listing of upcoming 2017 conferences and summits. We hope this will be helpful to you!

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The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was established in the U.S. in 1996 to protect an individual's personal health care information. Healthcare institutions are required to meet all standards and comply with the appropriate security measures in order to safeguard patient data. These standards became enforceable by law on 21 April, 2005.

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Providing quality customer service is a concern for nearly all businesses. It is important to be timely, consistent, efficient, and polite. However, not all customer service aspects may not be a job for humans. Automation offers many benefits to companies hoping to streamline their customer service, which can increase customer satisfaction and reduce costs. The following are four methods of including automation in providing customer service:

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The advent of digital technology has provided many benefits to healthcare providers. One particular advancement is the use of big data, or extremely large data sets that can be analyzed to reveal patterns and trends. Utilizing big data can provide healthcare facilities more efficient operations and insight into patients and their health.

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As our world becomes more and more philanthropic and globalized, people with the means to travel are increasingly inclined to make an impact on the areas they visit. Thousands of tourists are no longer comfortable lounging in a tropical hotel, knowing that the issues in the region are evident just outside their door. Instead, they want to be immersed in the area's culture and challenges, leaving a positive mark on the community and locals before returning home. Voluntourism, the hybrid of volunteering and tourism, is a middle ground for those who travel primarily for the sake of traveling, but want to incorporate gratifying altruistic work.

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Cyber security has become an important issue for healthcare organizations as attacks on the industry, and in particular on private patient information, have grown more prevalent. A timely opportunity to learn more about the current state of healthcare cyber security, as well as many other pertinent issues in healthcare, is coming soon. The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) is hosting their 2017 Conference and Exhibition from February 19th to the 23rd at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida.

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