HIPAA

What To Know About Cybersecurity Insurance The cybersecurity insurance sector is in the midst of significant transformation. Escalating premiums, shifting prerequisites, and inconsistent standards within the industry present formidable hurdles for organizations seeking coverage. Now is a critical moment for these organizations to gain insight into the evolving landscape of cyber insurance and ascertain the […]

Ensuring Comprehensive HIPAA Compliance With the integration of technology into healthcare, the importance of HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) training for medical office staff has never been more paramount. The rise of telehealth, electronic health records, and the frequent exchange of medical data online necessitate a deep understanding of HIPAA regulations. This guide […]

Navigating Digital Safeguards in Healthcare Data Transmission Is HTTPS HIPAA Compliant? With the surging importance of online data transfers, particularly in the healthcare sector, the question often arises: “Is HTTPS HIPAA compliant?” As healthcare providers and related entities adopt digital methods, ensuring the confidentiality and integrity of Protected Health Information (PHI) is non-negotiable. Here, we […]

Navigating the Path to HIPAA Secure Emailing In the modern healthcare landscape, electronic communications are indispensable. Medical professionals, insurance providers, and patients often rely on emails for swift exchanges. However, with the imperative of adhering to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), one common query emerges: “Can I make my Gmail HIPAA compliant?” […]

HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) was introduced in 1996 as a landmark legislation aimed at safeguarding the medical information of individuals. As medical practices and health services increasingly move online and adopt electronic record-keeping, it’s more essential than ever that healthcare professionals and their associates understand and comply with HIPAA standards. This is […]

Businesses of every size and in every sector are at risk from growing cyber threats—those are just the facts. With awareness of the danger growing, more and more companies are looking at ways to protect themselves when they’re hit with a malware attack or data breach (and I do mean when, not if), which is […]

Do you know what a logging library is? What you don’t know could hurt your organization—severely. On Thursday, December 9, a critical zero-day vulnerability affecting many versions of Apache’s Log4j 2 Java logging library was publicly announced. Since then, hackers have been busily scanning the internet for instances of Log4j vulnerable to the flaw, called […]

PTG understands that you are in business to help your patients feel better, and so are we. With our platform of HIPAA compliance products, we diagnose and treat cybersecurity the same way you diagnose and treat your patients. We help your patients feel better about the security of their Personal Health Information (PHI and ePHI) while […]

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has played a huge role in assisting physicians during the pandemic.  Which may sound a little crazy at first, but if you think about it, actually makes a lot of sense. One of the best ways to keep the disease from spreading, as we all know by now, is by limiting human-to-human […]

With the halt of HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996) audits by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office (HHS) for Civil Rights (OCR), the healthcare industry is seeing a decline of about 2% annually in compliance with HIPAA’s Security Rule (NIST 800-66).  With that, however, has been a rise in […]

Law firms appear to be the latest black hat hacking trend. No less than FIVE law firms have been breached by cybercriminal group, Maze, in the last four months, and the results have been devastating.  Not only have these criminals STOLEN data, but they’ve also released extremely sensitive protected health information (PHI) from veterans’ pain […]

As if having your medical data compromised wasn’t bad enough… Now your medical secrets are being held hostage! It’s a breezy but sunny afternoon.  You’re going about your day, minding your own business when you receive a random text message from an unknown number saying that they have personal medical information about you that they will […]

I know you are all aware of what I’m about to tell you, but just in case you momentarily forgot, I’m going to refresh your memory… Every year, Microsoft stops supporting select versions of its software.  What this means is that they discontinue any sort of security updates or patches.   What does this mean for […]

In case you were ever wondering if your practice needs to encrypt its ePHI? Let the $3 million HIPAA penalty paid last month by the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC), one of the largest medical systems in NY State, serve as a warning. The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights […]

“Eight is Enough” A great, wholesome, family show from the late 70’s and early 80’s.  Also: what Sentara Hospital, with over 300 facilities across the states of North Carolina and Virginia, is telling the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) after being on the receiving end last month of this […]

Looters broke into a Durham health clinic sometime after the downtown gas explosion on April 10th that affected over 20 businesses, injured 25 people, and caused the death of two people. The subsequent theft of clinic property has prompted the clinic to notify patients that their information, including diagnoses and treatment information may have been […]

HIPAA Violations have been making headlines recently, and for good reason. Fines for violations can be crippling to companies, and the more mobile our data becomes, the greater the risk for security breech. According to the Health and Human Services website, as of September 30, 2019 the OCR has settled or imposed a civil money […]

Not one but THREE hospitals in the DCH Health System in Alabama are unable to accept new patients today due to ransomware: DCH Regional Medical Center in Tuscaloosa, Northport Medical Center in Northport, and Fayette Medical Center.  Cybercriminals have demanded an undisclosed amount of money for the unlock code. “A criminal is limiting our ability […]

The HIPAA Privacy Rule states that clearinghouses, covered entities, and business associates are required to follow the HIPAA security and privacy rules. According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, the Privacy Rule “requires that a covered entity obtain satisfactory assurances from its business associate that the business associate will appropriately safeguard the […]

With the ever-growing monitoring of Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) violations and media attention to their subsequent soaring costs, there has never been a better time to ensure your Access Control/Governance Policy is in place.  According to hitconsultant.net, in regard to ongoing HIPAA compliance efforts, initiating an access governance program perhaps is the best […]