Healthcare is increasingly reliant on digital information. To support this critical need, the size and complexity of hospitals' IT infrastructures have grown exponentially. The added complexity has created new challenges and risks for hospitals and health systems.
Cybersecurity
Sonoma (Calif.) Valley Hospital reported its computer system has been down for nearly two weeks after a "security incident" forced the system offline.
Another 19 hospitals and health systems have been identified as being affected by the Blackbaud security breach in the past six weeks.
Cape Girardeau, Mo.-based SoutheastHEALTH brought its computer network back up after a four-day shutdown prompted by an unusual amount of external internet traffic, according to a report from the Southeast Missourian.
Cybersecurity must be strengthened among hospitals and health systems now more than ever as health services increasingly move to remote and online formats, according to Josephine Wolff, PhD.
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Iron Mountain, Mich.-based Dickinson County Health System was hit by a malware attack, according to a report from TV6, an NBC affiliate.
Six Russian military officers have been charged in worldwide computer hacking incidents, including the June 2017 malware attack on Beaver, Pa.-based Heritage Valley Health System.
Ann Arbor-based Michigan Medicine sent out a mass email about an inflammatory bowel disease event without hiding recipients' emails, potentially exposing health information of more than a thousand patients.
Throughout 2020, healthcare organizations have agreed to pay millions of dollars to settle HIPAA violations with HHS' Office for Civil Rights.
The X-ray technician charged in the sexual abuse of a patient at a Troy, Mo., hospital this week no longer works there but may have other victims, according to a report from WTRF, a local ABC affiliate.