Potential Laptop Computer Data Breach at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

It's great to use mobile computers like laptops in the hospital setting - until they get stolen.

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center is in the process of notifying approximately 3,900 patients of a potential breach of protected health information (PHI) as a result of a physician's stolen personal laptop computer.

The computer was stolen from the office of a BIDMC physician on May 22. The computer, which contained a tracking device, has not been recovered nor has the tracking device been activated.

BIDMC has enhanced physical security in office buildings and mounted a campaign to raise awareness about data security issues within the organization at all levels.

Learn more here.

Can your health organization afford a $49,246 laptop?

Here's some information about an upcoming webinar sponsored by Absolute Software and Lenovo:

It’s not just about your mobile devices. It's about your business – your reputation. More than 12,000 laptops are stolen every week from airports alone. What if one of those was from your organization? Would your patient data be safe?

Clinicians and hospital staff need to be mobile, but this mobility can put an organization at a dramatically increased risk of a data breach. Keeping data secure in a mobile environment is not only a challenge, but a critical requirement within HITECH and HIPAA rules. Unauthorized access to patient data or hospital systems resulting from a stolen or lost laptop could cause severe economic and legal consequences. The average cost to resolve a data breach in 2009 was a sobering $6.75M2. And the rate at which customers “jump ship” is higher for healthcare organizations – even higher than for financial organizations. It’s all about your reputation.

Laptop theft is a leading cause of health data breaches

Here are more reasons why we should be using Cloud Computing in health care. According to this story on Government Health IT, laptop theft is a top cause of health data breaches:

Laptop theft is the most prevalent cause of the breach of health information affecting more than 500 people, according to the Health & Human Services Department, which last year began tracking data breaches by public and private healthcare organizations.

The fact that laptops are so easily stolen underscores the importance of physical security in the protection of health information, according to Adam Greene, senior health IT and privacy specialist in HHS’ Office for Civil Rights, which enforces the privacy and security rules under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

Read the full story on Government Health IT.

Can you afford a $49,246 laptop?

I received this e-mail from Intel and I thought I'd share it since it really communicates an important message:

Over 12,000 laptops are stolen every week from airports alone. In 2009, the average cost of a missing laptop was $49,246. What if one of those was from your organization? Would your patient data be safe?

Laptop computers are essential to mobile healthcare, but their mobility and convenience put organizations at heightened risk of a data breach. With increasingly stringent HIPAA regulations and stiffer penalties resulting from the HITECH Act, keeping patient data secure is a business necessity. Unauthorized access to patient data or hospital systems resulting from a stolen or lost laptop could cause severe economic and legal consequences — in 2009, the total average cost of a data breach was a sobering $6.75 million. And the rate at which customers "jump ship" after a data breach is significantly higher for healthcare organizations — even higher than for financial organizations.

Attend an upcoming Intel Webinar (co-sponsored by Frost & Sullivan) to learn these key trends and solutions:

* The challenges in protecting healthcare data
* The rules governing the protection of healthcare data and the consequences of noncompliance
* Keeping sensitive healthcare data out of the wrong hands
* Employing new technology that offers rapid lockdown and rapid recovery to keep you in compliance with healthcare data security laws

To sign up for a free webinar discussing healthcare data protection, click here.

Attend the live event and be entered to win an Intel® Anti-Theft enabled mobile device.

Will Cloud Computing Improve EHR Data Security?

As the government pushes for electronic health records (EHRs), many people remain concerned about data security. There have been many reports over the last year about stolen laptops and compromised patient data. Should such critical data reside on a portable machine like a laptop, tablet, or ultra-mobile PC?

Will cloud computing improve EHR data security? If sensitive data is never stored on a laptop, then if the laptop gets stolen, that patient information should be safe as long the person who stole the laptop isn't able to connect with to the health record database. I suppose that if a theif (or hacker) really wanted to get access ot the health record database, he (or she) would not necessarily need a stolen laptop (unless the laptop contains some critical security information, access codes, etc.).

So what's the solution? How can we ensure that electronic healthcare data is secure? Will all hospitals eventually rely on cloud computing? Is cloud computing the answer? Or, do many of the same risks and limitations apply? Maybe the answer is to focus on better data encryption.

Avoiding Computing Horrors

One of the worst things that can happen is the loss of a computer - either through physical loss such as theft, or due to hardware failure. Are you prepared for the loss of your main computer that has all your critical data?

How do you backup your critical data? Do you perform a backup of your entire PC so that you can quickly get back to work if you lose your computer? I use a variety of tactics to ensure that I always have access to my vital information.

Here are a two tips that may save you from a terrible computing nightmare:

1. I use a file synchronization service to sync all my critical files on several different computers that are in different locations. Remote backup is critical because it doesn't help to keep all your backups with your main PC if your house/office goes up in flames (or if a thief comes and steals your computers and all your external hard drives).
   
2. I maintain at least 2 computers with critical applications such as Microsoft Office. This way, if I physically lose my main computer, then I have an immediate backup that is ready to go. I can't afford to lose a day of productivity, so it is critical for me to have a back up computer. If you don't have a backup computer, then you'll spend at least one day restoring your backup (either on your existing or new machine).

If my tips seem a bit "over kill," then you've never experienced a true computing horror. Wait until that happens and you'll have some serious regrets. At a minimum, make sure to back up your hard drive.