Thursday, September 1, 2011

About Medical Identity Theft and Healthcare Data Breaches - An Overview



health records najveće.Nedavne Ponemon Institute study, "American opinions about health care policy," notes that over 75% of respondents believed that protecting the privacy of health record is a very important matter. Unfortunately, it was discovered that 80% of health care organizations say they had one or more data breaches involving the loss of health information.

With the recent adoption of Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, companies in the healthcare industry are financial incentives to health records online. Although it brings medical information online can contribute to the quality of health care in the long run, it also creates opportunities for data thieves, putting customers, clients and employees of medical data at risk. As a result, the Act expands the Health Insurance Profitability and Accountability Act's (HIPAA) rules for privacy and security practices for electronic transmission of medical data.

However, it also tightens rules for enforcement and penalties for non compliance with data management and breach notification requirements. Healthcare organizations are now responsible for understanding these new laws and must have the infrastructure and security measures to protect medical records and individual PII and PHI. According to the Ponemon Institute study, "electronic health information at risk," said the average cost incurred for the company to deal with medical data breach is $ 211 per record. Those companies that do not closely follow the new requirements may cause damage amounting to $ 1.5 million.

At each level of decision-hitech law changing the landscape of how healthcare companies manage and protect data. Investing in infrastructure to secure health records is critical in maintaining a healthy business and customer loyalty.

Unfortunately, most companies in the healthcare industry are not making these investments. According to a study Pnemon Institute "electronic health information at risk," more than 60% of healthcare industry IT professionals surveyed believe they have sufficient funds to ensure that personal health information is kept safe. In addition, 70% say that senior management of their company does not view the privacy and data security as top priority.

with the necessary protective measures are not implemented, the increased exposure to identity thieves is increasing. This in turn can put companies at risk of potential data breaches and the risk for loss of business from loyal customers. Data breaches can lead to significant reductions in customer confidence, and thus will lead to less revenue. As reported in a recent survey by Javelin Research, "Data Breach response best practices", 45% of victims of violations have less confidence in the business as a result of being victims of data breaches.

How to handle violations of the organization, should one occur, is significantly changed due to more stringent notification requirements defined HITECH Act. Now more than ever, it is important that the healthcare industry to be aware of new requirements and standards.

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