Top Data Breaches for 2018: What We Have Learned About Protecting ePHI

Description: Everyone in the healthcare industry knows about HIPAA (the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), that has been in effect since 1996. The goal of the legislation was fairly simple – to safeguard our patient health information. The law dictated to entities how to protect health information (PHI), how it can be shared, when it can be shared, and with whom it can be shared.

In spite of all training efforts on HIPAA and protecting our patients, PHI, even the best of healthcare organizations struggle with feeling confident that they have all the required areas covered to protect and prevent HIPAA violations from occurring in their organization.

For example, Healthcare Info Security reports, there have been 229 data breaches affecting 6.1 million individuals submitted to HHS' Office for Civil Rights' breach portal since the start of 2018. So far, of the breaches reported to OCR:

• 91 are listed as hacking or IT incidents (affecting 4.3 million individuals)
• 91 are listed as unauthorized access or disclosure breaches (affecting 803,000 individuals)
• 41 are listed as theft or loss (affecting 677,000 individuals
• 13 of which involved paper or film records), six are listed as improper disposal (affecting 330,000 individuals)
• and the remainder involved unencrypted computing devices (affecting 80,000 individuals)

Remember, in cases of noncompliance where the covered entity does not satisfactorily resolve the matter, Office of Civil Rights (OCR) may decide to impose civil money penalties (CMPs) on the covered entity. CMPs for HIPAA violations are determined based on a tiered civil penalty structure. This can be very costly to organizations as well as damaging to the business reputation if effective safeguards are not put in place.

In this webinar conference you will take away valuable information that will assist you in identifying potential risks to your organization. Take a second look at an effective compliance plan and the importance of internal monitoring and auditing in your “culture of compliance.”

Opportunity to influence and motivate by creating a “Culture of Compliance” to embrace critical roles in implementing you successful HIPAA programs.”

An effective HIPAA monitoring program is essential to the overall success of any operation. HIPAA-covered entities that experience a breach affecting more than 500 individuals are required to report the incident to Office of Civil Rights (OCR) and can earn a top spot on the breach portal, commonly referred to as the "wall of shame." In this webinar, Pam Joslin will focus on the basics of an effective privacy monitoring program. You will leave the session with practical steps to help safeguard your organization against data breaches by identifying potential risks based on “live cases” for FY2018. Learn more about the highest HIPAA penalties for organizations so far in 2018 and what it cost their organizations for not complying.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify the components in a HIPPA compliance program
• Recognize the impact of not creating and monitoring an effective HIPAA program to protect your organization’s ePHI
• Take a look at the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) website breach portal, “Wall of Shame.”
• Recognize the value of effective written procedures and procedures specific to your organizational structure

• Understand the scope of HIPPA compliance and monitoring programs and what your organization should be monitoring and auditing
• What is considered a “breach” and when to report
• Effective HIPAA compliance checklist review
• Review “live” HIPPA breach cases for 2018, lessons learned, penalties assigned

This webcast will be of a valuable assistance to the below audience.

• Physicians
• Healthcare Organization employees
• All clinical staff
• Compliance officers
• Administrators
• Managers