The use of online health records has risen by 24 percent. A study conducted by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) has revealed many informative and significant results related to the personal use of online medical records. Below is a summary of the most significant three:
The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is an internationally accepted set of ITSM best practices. Businesses of different sizes and across all industries can implement ITIL to better their software management methods in a way that aligns with their core objectives. These practices educate organizations on how to use and manage their software to best suit their needs. Listed below are four advantages from which your business can benefit, if you apply the ITIL framework:
(Image source: Security Affairs.co)
In 2014, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) created a Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) that guides organizations in their journey towards developing secure computer systems. It sets a flexible foundation that all businesses can follow and sculpt to their needs. For this reason, it is extremely successful and is employed by a large number of organizations.
Recently, Verizon released the 2019 Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR), a study that aims to raise awareness on the changing data security threat landscape and provide actionable advice based on the results. The report's main focus is on classifying international threats based on types of threat actions and threat actors that are common in data breaches.
The multichannel nature of healthcare today has made it susceptible to both physical and virtual forms of attack. While cybersecurity is increasingly becoming a major concern for healthcare entities, there are many areas of weaknesses that have yet to be taken care of. They include:
In recent months, a large number of states have sought to improve their healthcare security in various ways. Each of the following amendments and laws that have been passed tackles a different aspect of personal information protection including PHI and other sensitive data. But the list below is not only limited to the laws themselves, rather it includes any precedents that may have a significant effect on how healthcare is dealt with in the future.
Over the last few months, organizations have witnessed a whirlwind of new cyber attacks and breaches. Healthcare providers have long blamed most breaches on employee error and negligence, with various studies and reports revealing that the majority of healthcare breaches are a result of internal actors. And while this may be partially true, the fact remains that many organizations contribute to the problem themselves. Not through a lack of training or resources, but through a lack of proper data access regulation.
Pharmacogenomics, or the study of the human genome's response to drugs, originated in the late 1990s. It has continued to grow and culminated in what we call today precision medicine. Precision medicine includes the in-depth analysis of the genomic data and DNA sequencing files of an individual and his/her lineage for generations. This genetic information is used to select personalized treatment options.
In August of 2018, a group of researchers at Check Point Research successfully breached a system of computers through a vulnerability in a Hewlett Packard printer and fax machine. The team sent a fax containing malware disguised as an image to the machine, which stored the document, and gave the researchers access to all the computers on the network.
A recent Yale study revealed that a large number of American hospitals fail to provide patient records upon request. The research was based on simulated patients requesting medical records and was conducted in 83 of the best hospitals in the US, all of which have independent medical records request processes and medical records departments, reachable by phone.
