Articles Written By: Linda Moore

Linda Moore is an experienced journalist with in dept knowledge of the healthcare sector.

Report Finds 50M Medical Records Were Exposed In 2021

The 2022 Breach Barometer Report from Protenus indicates that 2021 was a particularly disastrous year for data breaches in the healthcare business, with more than 50 million medical records disclosed or compromised. The data for the study was provided by Databreaches.net. The report contains incidents that have not been declared by the compromised organization, data breaches involving healthcare data at non-HIPAA-regulated entities, data breaches involving healthcare data reported to regulators, and data breaches that have been publicized in the media.  Since 2016, Protenus has been publishing yearly Breach Barometer reports, and each year since 2017, more records have been compromised…

Senators Introduce Bipartisan Bill To Address Health Information Privacy Vulnerabilities

In 1996, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was introduced to require the creation of national standards to protect sensitive patient health information from being disclosed without the patient’s consent. However, after 2 decades, the health sector has changed significantly. Health information is now being collected, shared, and sold by tech companies. The HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules created rules to guarantee the privacy and security of health data, however HIPAA only applies to HIPAA-covered entities. As a result, HIPAA is due a number of updates to address its vulnerabilities. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)…

125+ Healthcare Organizations Urge Congress To Reinstate Pre-Deductible Telehealth Coverage for HDHP-HSAs

Over 125 organizations are calling on Congress to reinstate a provision that would permit employers and health plans to offer pre-deductible coverage for telehealth services for those with high-deductible health plans and Health Savings Accounts (HDHP-HSAs).  Last week, the Alliance for Connected Care convened a letter to Congressional leaders, signed by a mix of organizations including the American Telemedicine Association, America’s Health Insurance Plans, AMGA, LifePoint Health, CVS Health, and Teladoc Health. The letter urged the leaders to reinstate the telehealth safe harbor flexibility enacted in the CARES Act; the flexibility had expired on December 31st, but with the Omicron…

Report Explores The Restrictive Telehealth Laws Of COVID-19 Affected States

The COVID-19 pandemic saw a dramatic rise in the use of telehealth services, however a new report has highlighted the restrictive telehealth laws of states that have been most affected by the virus. These states include New York, California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Washington, and New Jersey, which have distinct limitations placed on virtual care services that cross state lines. For instance, these states are not part of any interstate licensing compacts, which would otherwise allow providers from different states to practice with a license from their home state, provided they are in good standing. The report, created by Reason Foundation, Cicero…

Sensor Technology in Smartwatches Could Assist In Decreasing Risk Of Opioid Relapse, Overdose, And Dependency

In an effort to tackle the opioid epidemic, researchers from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Syracuse University and SUNY Upstate Medical University have come together to create a wireless sensor designed to help prevent opioid relapses and overdoses. The National Institute on Drug Abuse has reported that in 2019, approximately 50,000 people in the US passed away due to opioid-linked overdoses. Moreover, federal data suggests that between 21 and 29 percent of those prescribed opioids for chronic pain misuse them. The research team, led by Tauhidur Rahman, PhD, an assistant professor in the College of Information and Computer Sciences at…

Governor Newsom’s Executive Order N-16-21 To Extend Telehealth Protections During PHE

Gavin Newsom, Governor of California, has issued an Executive Order (N-16-21) that allows physicians to provide routine and non-emergency telehealth services without the worry of being sanctioned for inadvertently releasing patient data. This Order extends a similar one that was put in place in April of 2020 during the peak of the pandemic. It was designed to help clinicians extend their telehealth services, allowing patients to receive care with less risk of COVID-19 transmission. This Order gives healthcare providers protection from HIPAA violations for offering telehealth services in good faith. The original order for the use of telehealth was set…

New Study Launched To Explore The Potential Of Virtual Reality To Reduce Social Isolation And Depression Among Seniors

A new mHealth study funded by the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute on Aging is set to take place in senior living centers in Massachusetts and California. The $2 million grant was awarded to the University of California at Santa Barbara to investigate how virtual reality (VR) platforms can help reduce social isolation and depression among seniors. The grant is the second given to Rendever, a digital health company based in Boston that is developing VR products to tackle these issues. This study is an exciting opportunity to explore the potential of VR and how it can be used…

Stanford Medicine and Fitbit Launch mHealth Project To Monitor College Athletes’ Health

Stanford Medicine has teamed up with Fitbit to see how useful mHealth wearables are in detecting and following infectious diseases, such as COVID-19, in college athletes. This connected health research project, which was announced today, will stretch from 2021 and consists of 1,000 student-athletes from the Pac-12 Conference who are involved in sports like basketball, football, soccer, and volleyball and who are tested for the coronavirus on a regular basis. They will be wearing a Fitbit Sense smartwatch for the duration of the study. This project is part of a larger effort which utilizes mHealth devices and telehealth platforms in…

CISA Alerts Of Potential Cloud Breaches Due To Poor Cybersecurity Practices

CISA has recently alerted organizations to the fact that cybercriminals are taking advantage of vulnerable cloud environments due to the lack of proper cyber hygiene. This warning is especially pertinent as many businesses have moved to a remote workforce during the pandemic. Consequently, CISA is urging organizations to ensure they have implemented the necessary security measures to protect their cloud environments. The SolarWinds Orion supply chain attack is believed to have employed some of the tactics outlined in the report, however, no specific threat group has been identified as the culprit. Furthermore, multiple threat actors are taking advantage of these…

HHS Funding for HIPAA National Patient Identifier Development Ban Overturned by the House

Under the HIPAA Administrative Simplification Rules, the federal government is required to develop a national patient identifier. This tool would be employed by healthcare entities to match individuals with health records from various sources while increasing the accuracy of the information and ensuring it can be shared quickly and efficiently. However, the national patient identifier has failed to come to fruition.  This is as a result of concerns about patient data security and privacy, the Department of Health and Human Services has been forbidden from using funding to create or promote a unique patient identifier system for the previous 20…

Patient Granted Right To Sue For Negligence Over HIPAA Breach By Arizona Court Of Appeals

A patient in Arizona has been granted the right to sue a pharmacy for negligence by the Court of Appeals, overturning a decision made by the trial court. The patient filed a lawsuit against Costco, claiming a violation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). The privacy violation relates to an incident in January 2016, a man was the victim of a privacy violation. He had been sent a sample of an erectile dysfunction drug and was subsequently notified by phone that his entire prescription was ready for collection. After canceling the prescription once, he contacted the pharmacy…