A practice managed by McLaren Medical Group had a significant breach of its computer system in March.
We can help your practice stay on top of the latest healthcare news, rules, regulations and trends. Subscribe to stay current and up to date on important matters that will impact your practice. (To subscribe to our blog Click Here).
106,000 patients are being notified of the breach that occurred at Mid-Michigan Physicians Imaging Center in March.
The Radiology Center computer system that contains authorizations, orders, scheduling information, and lots of patient information may have been accessed. At least 7 patient records were accessed for certain.
The long delay in reporting was due to the extensive investigation. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Civil Rights (OCR) does not look lightly on delays in reporting.
What can you learn from the breach and how it was handled?
- Make sure your risk assessment is complete and up to date. This is the first thing that the OCR will be interested in seeing if you have a breach.
- Make sure you have a breach readiness plan in case there is a breach.
- Train your employees regularly.
- If you have a breach, contact a healthcare lawyer immediately
- Report the breach to the government timely.
We help our clients work to prevent breaches. In the event of a breach, we help our clients notify patients and the government.
It is essential that your practice have a plan in place to protect patient records from breaches and a plan to respond to breaches.
In our next blog post, we will keep you informed of related issues. To get this important information delivered directly to your mail box, Click here to Subscribe
Do you need help staying current and compliant with the latest laws, rules and regulations? We can help. To contact us about your new government rules and regulations, your practice’s risk assessment, or about your other legal needs: CLICK HERE.
P.S. If you or your patients are interested in consumer healthcare issues, check out myhealthspin.com.
