Question

In: Nursing

This assignment allows us to view several historical/memorable occurrences in the healthcare field that have/will shape...

This assignment allows us to view several historical/memorable occurrences in the healthcare field that have/will shape our future landscape

400,000 COLUMBIA SURGICAL PATIENT RECORDS BREACHED

On February 18, Columbia Surgical Specialists of Spokane reported a breach to the Department of Health and Human Services, which impacted 400,000 patients. Currently, there’s no public breach notice on the Columbia Surgical site, so not much is known as to the extent of the attack. The cyberattack is being reported as ransomware, which hit the specialist on January 7. The provider did not pay the ransom, and the encrypted files were restored from backups.

please I need help

Solutions

Expert Solution

Columbia Surgical Specialists in Spokane city of Washington impacted by a ransomware attack, which has possibly allowed unauthorized individuals access to Protected Health Information (PHI) of around 400,000 patients. The Columbia Surgical Specialists came to know about this ransomware attack on Jan. 9, 2019. This security breach was then investigated immediately, and assistance has been provided by Intrinium, the IT security provider.

Files that were encrypted by ransomware contain patient information, including names, Social security numbers, driver's license numbers and various other types of PHI.

HIPAA Journal has been told by the Columbia Surgical Specialists that data security firm "went through our systems with a fine-tooth comb". The data security firm concluded that the patient data was not stolen by attackers, "but due to the nature of the ransomware and how the infection first began, there cannot be a guarantee". However, Columbia Surgical Specialists thinks that risk to the patients has been very low, and the notification sent to the patients is just a precautionary step.

The vulnerability that has been exploited in order to have access to Columbia Surgical Specialists network server for installing the ransomware was addressed. Moreover, the internal protocols along with procedures are getting reviewed by Columbia Surgical Specialists to prevent the future attacks.

Columbia Surgical Specialists were very open about this breach. They confirmed that for recovering the patient files, decision has been taken to pay ransom demand. Around $14,650 was paid in the cryptocurrency for decrypting the file that was encrypted by this ransowmare.

"We received notice from the people that encrypted the files just a few hours before several patients were scheduled for surgeries, and they made it clear we would not have access to patient information until we paid a fee," stated the Columbia Surgical Specialists. "We quickly determined that the health and well-being of our patients was the number one concern, and when we made the payment they gave us the decryption key so we could immediately proceed unlocking the data".

The breach notification that has been sent to the patients provides certain insight about the nature of the breach investigations and the reason behind taking so long for issuing notifications to the patients.

The security breach has been reported to Department of Health and Human Services' Office for Civil Rights on Feb. 18, 2019.


Related Solutions

View the video entitled, “The Future of US Healthcare” by Barry Bittman, MD. (The link may...
View the video entitled, “The Future of US Healthcare” by Barry Bittman, MD. (The link may be found in the Content.) Among other things, the video talks about “Triple AIM.” What is “Triple AIM” under the Affordable Care Act? The video also cites the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) projections that our national health care expenditures will rise to $4.48 trillion by 2019, a number equivalent to 19.3 percent of our GDP. There is no doubt that the...
US Tax laws are based on several important doctrines. •The assignment of income doctrine - states...
US Tax laws are based on several important doctrines. •The assignment of income doctrine - states that income must be taxed to the entity that renders the service or owns the capital with respect to which the income is paid. •The economic substance doctrine - holds that a transaction that changes the taxpayer’s economic situation only for the tax savings from the transaction can be disregarded by the IRS. •The business purpose doctrine - a transaction should not be effective...
In view of the several corporate scams that have occurred over the years, corporations are under...
In view of the several corporate scams that have occurred over the years, corporations are under increasing pressure from their governments to ensure they are governed and run properly. From a regulatory perspective, explore in detail how corporations can accomplish this.
If we have a mixture of sodium carbonate and sodium hydroxide, what procedure allows us to...
If we have a mixture of sodium carbonate and sodium hydroxide, what procedure allows us to tell that they are both present? Based on your results which measurement do you think will be more accurate and which do you think is more precise. Explain why.
Doctors have always played a dominate role in the Australian healthcare system. describe the historical reasons...
Doctors have always played a dominate role in the Australian healthcare system. describe the historical reasons that have lead to doctors assuming this dominant role in our healthcare system
Developed economies all have their own regulatory environment for accounting and financial reporting. This assignment allows...
Developed economies all have their own regulatory environment for accounting and financial reporting. This assignment allows you to explore two different regulatory environments of your choice, and to evaluate the theories of regulation that best describe those environments. This assignment is in two parts, which you will combine into a single report. Each will involve a review of the relevant literature to establish the dominant views involved in each environment. Your conclusion at the end of the report will identify...
: carbonyl(CO) is strong field ligand so [Ni(CO)4] should have square planar shape but by the...
: carbonyl(CO) is strong field ligand so [Ni(CO)4] should have square planar shape but by the experiment [Ni(CO)4] is tetrahedral.Explain this statement.
In this unit, you have been learning about marketing procedures in healthcare organizations. This assignment will...
In this unit, you have been learning about marketing procedures in healthcare organizations. This assignment will give you an opportunity to reflect on what you have learned and offer your own thoughts about the unit material. Your reflection paper should cover the following topics: Do you believe that creating and implementing a marketing plan for a healthcare organization is important? Why, or why not? Think about your own healthcare facility or one in your community. What do you think would...
Does the US have better healthcare than the rest of the world? Support and explain your...
Does the US have better healthcare than the rest of the world? Support and explain your position. Please include references in proper APA format.
To appreciate how viscous drag are being computed if we have the velocity field, let us...
To appreciate how viscous drag are being computed if we have the velocity field, let us consider the following velocity field for a flow of Newtonian viscous fluid u = x + 2y v = x 2 + y w = 0 (4.158) The fluid has viscosity of 10−2 kgm−1 s −1 (a) Determine the viscous stresses on the reference fluid element.(b) Determine the viscous stress vector acting on a surface aligned at an angle of 45 degrees (counterclockwise) from...
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT