Physician’s offices and small clinics are recent targets of patient data theft creating legal obligation to notify patents of the crime under the new federal HITECH Act as well as providing concurrent notice to HHS Office of Civil Rights (OCR). A recent article in HeathLeaders Media highlighted this growing problem.
According to OCR, 11 private practices, affecting a total of 54,000+ patient records have been reported to them since this legislation to protect patient privacy went into effect in September 2009.
The risk to affected patients is medical identity theft by criminals wanting to use their information to obtain illegal prescriptions and medical services. The risk to private practices is compliance with regulations, state and federal fines for privacy violations, class action litigation, and losing patients who decide to take their business elsewhere. Unfortunately, a breach of patient data is common. A misdirected fax, stolen laptop, or missing PDA containing patient data is all it takes.
When you suspect you have a breach of patient data, get help. A recent survey by Ponemon Institute, a research organization that studies data breach incidents found that 44% of the organizations they surveyed engaged experts. Ponemon also found those that engaged experts experience 26% lower cost and more positive outcomes including compliance with regulations, minimizing the risk of fines and class action litigation, and protecting patients from medical identity theft.
ID Experts has helped private practices and clinics, large and small effectively mitigate the risks of a data breach. If you think you have an issue, call ID Experts hot line at 866-726-4271 to discuss the case.
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