Tag: Data Breach
In brief: CMS makes advance payments, state AG sues Apria, OIG warns of cath scams
March 13, 2024HME News Staff
WASHINGTON – CMS on March 9 made available Change Healthcare/Optum Payment Disruption (CHOPD) accelerated payments to Part A providers and advance payments to Part B suppliers experiencing claims disruptions.
The payments may be granted in amounts representative of up to 30 of claims payments to eligible providers and suppliers. The average 30-day payment is based on the total claims paid to the provider/supplier between Aug. 1, 2023, and Oct. 31, 2023, divided by three. These payments...
State AG sues Apria Healthcare
March 11, 2024HME News Staff
INDIANAPOLIS – The Attorney General for the state of Indiana on Feb. 29 filed a lawsuit against Apria Healthcare related to a data breach that the state says persisted for multiple years. Apria, which had its main headquarters in Indianapolis before it was bought by Richmond, Va.-based Owens & Minor in 2022, previously provided notice of the breach in May 2023. The lawsuit requests relief on a number of counts, including award damages of up to $100 per violation for up to $25,000 per violation...
Inogen reports data security incident
April 13, 2018HME News Staff
GOLETA, Calif. - An Inogen employee's email account was accessed by unknown persons outside the company without authorization, it announced in an April 13 Form 8-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.Some of the account's messages—and the files attached to them—may have contained personal information belonging to Inogen rental customers. That personal information included names, addresses, telephone numbers, email addresses, dates of birth, dates of death, Medicare identification...
Cybersecurity: Is your business at risk?
October 20, 2017Guest Commentary
While data breaches at large businesses such as Equifax, Target, Anthem, Yahoo and major health systems often make the headlines, the majority of data breaches affect small businesses. Typically, small businesses do not have the resources to organize and fund a sophisticated IT security program. Hackers know this, which gives them an advantage when targeting a business to attack.
Most unsuspecting victims find out about an attack when it's too late. In fact, insurance experts estimate that...
Airway Oxygen hit by ransomware attack
July 5, 2017HME News Staff
WYOMING, Mich. - Airway Oxygen has experienced a ransomware attack affecting 500,000 individuals, according to the breach portal of the Office for Civil Rights of the Department of Health and Human Services. In a notice to customers, Airway Oxygen said it learned that an unidentified criminal(s) had gained access to its technical infrastructure and installed ransomware to deny the company access to its own data. “We have no indication that any of your protected health information stored on...
Cyber Security: Play offense
August 22, 2016Rob Duryea
A. According to Ernst & Young, only 38% of businesses are prepared for a cyber-attack. While companies are slow to rise to the threat, cybercriminals are ramping up the sophistication and speed of their attacks. Even if you consider yourself prepared, what are you doing to protect your company from future threats?
Over the last three months, we have covered how to prevent a security breach as it relates to business owners, employees, and patients/customers. We've empowered readers to defend...
Cyber Security: Be a PHI poster child
July 25, 2016Rob Duryea
A. In 2015 alone more than 100 million patient health records were compromised. Fully protecting patient information has become a never-ending fight, according to the Office of Civil Rights under Health and Human Services. Even if you're keeping your patients' records under lock and key, the patients themselves may be sharing their private information through any number of social media platforms.
Last month, we covered how to prevent a security breach from the inside and next month...
Cyber Security: Build a good defense
May 23, 2016Rob Duryea
A. The best defense is a good offense is a common saying in the Marine Corps and should be in cyber security. Most small businesses think they are too small to be attacked but, in the enemy's eyes, you are a soft target. In 2014, 60% of all online attacks targeted small and mid-sized businesses. With most small businesses lacking resources and one in four small business owners having little to no understanding of security threats, you are the prime target.
Throughout this four-part series,...
Safeguard patient data
March 11, 2016Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor
LAS VEGAS - The most valuable property an HME provider has today is not physical inventory, but patient data.“On the black market, personal health information is the most sought after data of anything out there,” said Bill Wilson, vice president of sales and marketing for VGM Insurance, during a session at Medtrade Spring. “With that information, hackers can steal identities.”When Target suffered a breach in 2014, the hackers didn't target the retail giant itself; instead,...
Anthem today, HME providers tomorrow?
May 26, 2015Guest Commentary
Just how much does a provider stand to lose from a hacker's breach of protected health information (PHI)? Consider a recent theft in Richardson, Texas, where 5,000 individuals had their PHI stolen. According to Ponemon Institute's 2013 “Cost of Data Breach Study,” the average cost to the provider per record of data breach is $188. Even with the Richardson breach of 5,000 individuals being well below the U.S. average of 28,000 records per attack, the total cost of that 2014 incident tops...