From the Desk of Matt Fisher – ICYMI

By Matt Fisher, Esq
Twitter: @matt_r_fisher
Host of Healthcare de Jure – #HCdeJure

Tune in weekdays at 2pm, 10pm or 6am ET as Matt serves up the hottest healthcare issues of the day, all from a legal point of view.  From public policies and Federal initiatives to privacy and security, join host Matt R. Fisher as he and his guests discuss a smorgasbord of topics, giving hospitals, physicians, vendors and patients a seat at the table. Matt’s virtual conversations can be listened to on demand or heard on air. So don’t miss a minute of what’s on the menu.

ICYMI, read the latest of Matt’s blogs. And don’t forget to join the conversation with Matt on #HCdeJure.

Preparing for the Worst, or the New Inevitable
With the number of cyberattacks focusing on healthcare for purposes ranging from destruction of data to impersonating a physician or other clinician to just taking data, it is truer than ever that a successful attack is only a matter of time. A common threat is ransomware. As should be well known at this point in time, a ransomware attack will lock an organization out of its data and require payment of a ransom to potentially get full access to that data back. Continue reading on HITECH Answers.

Communication Tension or Breakdown
A scenario growing in frequency for physician practices and other healthcare organizations is the desire for patients to communicate with clinicians using the same tools as in everyday life. That desire translates to a preference for text messaging, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, iMessage, or any other number of third-party applications that enable quick and efficient communication. The convenience and ease of communication are also factors that give rise to a number of privacy and security concerns. Continue reading on HITECH Answers.

Ignore HIPAA At Your Own Peril
After a lull in enforcement actions concerning HIPAA, the Office for Civil Rights re-entered the fray with a $3,000,000 bang. The settlement announced on May 6, 2019, imposes a significant fine after widespread non-compliance was found by OCR. As with many prior settlements, the factual scenario underpinning the latest settlement is fairly egregious. As one of many missteps, the party with HIPAA troubles, in this instance Touchstone Medical Imaging, LLC (TMI), had its troubles revealed to it by the FBI. Continue reading on HITECH Answers.

Listen in on one of Matt’s Healthcare de Jure episodes.