As the healthcare industry continues to evolve, so do the ways that protected health information (PHI) of patients can be compromised. With more than 400 healthcare breaches in 2017, organizations continue to look for ways to prevent loss or unauthorized access of data.
ScanSTAT’s Compliance & Industry Education Manager, Kathryn Ayers Wickenhauser, coauthored an article exploring the seven most common ways records are compromised with other members of AHIOS (American Health Information Outsourcing Society). The article was published in renowned industry news resource Becker’s Health IT & CIO Report.
The article notes that in recent years, the number of cyberattacks has grown drastically by 89%, but other compromises like theft and loss still remain common. Additionally, the article outlines not only the penalties and fines organizations can incur as a result of the breach, but best practices to prevent unauthorized access as well, such as using a business associate partner. Health information management processing business associates (like ScanSTAT) process a large amount of PHI daily and have established best practices for preventing breaches as well as extremely low error rates. Additionally, when working with a business associate, the covered entity organization may be able to transfer the liability of a breach (should one occur) to the business associate.
As a member of AHIOS, ScanSTAT works with other similar partner organizations to promote excellence in health information management. The member organizations of AHIOS work together to educate healthcare organizations, patients, and regulators through a variety of means similar to this article. For more information from AHIOS, visit the Thought Leadership section of the AHIOS website.
For the list of the top seven ways PHI is accessed without authorization, read the full article here.