Mar 26, 2024
In
this two-part Triage series, Gina Bertolini, Sarah Carlins, and
Jianne McDonald analyze two recent HHS initiatives that address
cybersecurity risks to hospitals and health systems nationwide.
Cybersecurity events involving our nation’s health care providers
have precipitously risen in the past five years. The Department of
Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) reports a
nearly 300% increase in large data breaches that involve ransomware
reported to OCR from 2018 to 2022. Interoperability remains a major
government priority, and as remote care models continue to
proliferate and the need intensifies for big data to feed
increasingly complex technologies, risks to health care providers
will continue to abound.
In part one of this series, Sarah Carlins and Jianne McDonald
discuss recent OCR recommendations for healthcare providers and
patients on cybersecurity measures when providing and receiving
care via telehealth. They also discuss the federal government’s
view that effective communication regarding the privacy and
security of electronic health information is an important component
of quality care in the telehealth setting.