Cybersecurity news for hospitals and health systems

New York City-based Northwell Health is alerting prospective employees about unauthorized individuals falsely using the health system’s name. 

Nashville-based Tennessee Orthopaedic Alliance began alerting 81,146 patients Feb. 14 that their information may have been exposed in a phishing scheme.

Twenty-nine employees at Munson Healthcare fell victim to a phishing attack that allowed an unauthorized third party access to patient data, according to the Cadillac News.

Lake Success, N.Y.-based Personal-Touch Home Care, a branded home healthcare company that provides services across the state, has notified more than 157,000 patients that their information may have been exposed in a ransomware attack against a third-party vendor.

Along with notifying patients following cyberattacks, hospitals and health systems have different approaches to how to update or change its existing cybersecurity infrastructure. While some are focused on education, others implement new software to prevent cyberattacks.

Home healthcare company Aveanna Healthcare began notifying an undisclosed number of patients and employees Feb. 18 that their information may have been exposed in a phishing attack.

San Diego-based Rady Children's Hospital began alerting 2,360 radiology patients Feb. 21 that their information may have been accessed by unauthorized personnel.

Hackers take on various faces when conducting phishing attacks, with PayPal being the most commonly impersonated company, according to a Vade Secure report.

Several patients involved in a data breach at Seattle-based UW Medicine have sued the academic medical center claiming their protected health information was not properly safeguarded.

In the changing digital health era, Timothy Noonan, deputy director for Health Information Privacy at the HHS Office for Civil Rights, is constantly reviewing HIPAA and privacy standards to ensure patient information is safe and in the right hands.