by medicaltechont | Apr 23, 2016 | Cloud, Security, Technology
With the “Cloud” getting ever more prevalent it is increasingly coming under more attack. It has become the option for Malware creators who want to create havoc. The question is “how safe is your data from online predators”? Will you become liable for a breach? Read this great article from Forbes magazine below.
How To Determine If You Can Trust Cloud Security
Will 2016 be the year security stops being a reason to avoid public clouds? Because, face it, by now established cloud vendors have likely invested more in security than you can hope to duplicate in-house. But when you’re used to pulling your own security levers, how do you let go of some of that control?
What we need is the cloud security version of a trust fall.
You may have taken part in this team-building exercise: You fall backward into the arms of a coworker while trusting that they’ll catch you before your khakis-clad behind hits the ground. It’s easier to take that plunge when your colleagues have given you reasons to trust them: They step up when you need a hand at work, they have built a solid reputation, they have your back when things go awry.
Read more at http://www.forbes.com/sites/oracle/2016/04/19/how-to-determine-if-you-can-trust-cloud-security/#11c297406c78
by medicaltechont | Feb 14, 2015 | United States
Modernizing Medicine, creator of the Electronic Medical Assistant (EMA), a cloud-based, specialty-specific electronic medical record (EMR) system, on January 29 responded to recent announcements from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) and leading health insurers, regarding the concerted push away from fee-for-service healthcare models in favor of outcome-based reimbursements.
CMS has announced that 85 percent of Medicare payments in 2016 could be based on quality of care, and that number could grow to 90 percent in 2018. Additionally, a UnitedHealth Group executive was reported to have said that the company plans to increase value- based payments to doctors and hospitals by 20 percent this year, forecasting over $40 billion in payments tied to value or quality of care.
“This major shift in payment models requires the right tools and reporting systems if physicians and provider organizations want to safeguard against penalties from volume-based medicine and benefit from related incentives,” said Modernizing Medicine’s CEO and Co- founder Dan Cane in a statement issued following the recent announcements from CMS and HHS. “Modernizing Medicine is deeply committed to the physicians and healthcare professionals we serve, and we believe that health information technology vendors share a large part of the responsibility to ease the impending transition toward quality reporting and outcomes-based reimbursements.”
Unlike EMRs using templates or macros, EMA was designed with unique structured data technology that handles the Value-based Payment Modifier and enables quality reporting including Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) program reporting. Cane believes Modernizing Medicine is in a market leading position in providing a system that addresses this burden for physicians, enabling them to focus on practicing medicine without fear of the upcoming changes.
Read more
by medicaltechont | May 24, 2014 | Cloud, EHR, Ontario, Privacy, Software, Technology, The Internet
Is your cloud (online web-based) application vulnerable to hackers? Do you even know if the OpenSSL security flaw and bug affected your important data? Are you paying attention to your investment? Or do you even care?
With many moving full steam ahead with cloud-based solutions, recent developments have casted a slight shadow on the security of patient data and how much risk a medical practitioner is willing to take with personal medical information in the cloud.
When you visit the doctor, nurse practitioner or other health professionals there is a trust developed; whereby your confidentiality is respected and observed. As a patient you assume that all efforts are taken to uphold that trust. You assume that your personal medical data is secure from the prying eyes of others. However do you really know if your personal information is safe? It’s amazing to know that so many regular individuals assume, in Canada, that their personal information, located within a Doctor’s office, is 100% safe and secure. But what happens if they find out that there was a breach in security? What happens if a patient came to view results of something extremely important, only available within your EMR or medical software, and your “Internet” connection is down? What do you tell the patient? Are you certain that your medical information is safe?
Read: Cisco and Heartbleed, A Class Action Lawsuit In The Making (Seeking Alpha)
Although the term “online web based billing software” is the new buzz word, not all solutions have to be cloud-based. Many use terms like “bill from anywhere“, or “use any web-browser“, yet there are alternatives, which still allow you to be in control or your data. Many companies will never tell you how often their networks are down. Fear is used scare individuals into thinking that their equipment is safe with their company. “ 99% up-time“, is the standard default line for most online and cloud providers. However, as a medical professional, you assume the risk to your reputation and medical license. Patients believe that “you” and your medical practice are in trust of their personal medical and critical information. We all know, once trust is broken it is often difficult to repair.
Good luck trying to blame your technical problems on others when your cloud application is down (offline), your web-based provider was hacked (losing personal patient information) or even have disappeared with your data (bankrupted). Some comments from online vendors are shown below.
” Sorry about that folks, someone literally drove over our Internet connection this morning and ripped it from the pole. Everything restored.”
“The six-hour outage of Cerner’s network late last month has raised fresh concerns about cloud hosting of patient records.”
“ Target ignored its own alarms—and turned its customers into victims of an epic hack“(Bloomberg Businessweek)
“EBay initially believed user data safe after cyberattack“(Toronto Sun)
If your medical patient records are in the cloud ask yourself the following questions.
- Who actually has your data?
- Where, on planet Earth literally, is your data located?
- Are their cloud servers in Canada? The U.S.? Overseas? Or in an undesirable location in another country?
- If your patient data is in a foreign country what laws govern access to that information?
- Who is actually looking at your entrusted patient data?
- What is the risk and liability to your medical practice?
When choosing a vendor, for your medical software, never assume that the data within their office. Ask questions, first and never assume. Servers could be anywhere.
“If the cloud that hosts your data has servers in a foreign country, the laws of that foreign country may govern your data when stored in that server.”
Think of a more balanced approach to medical file management and health records. There are options to mobility that will not compromise your medical data. Just because it looks cheap, bleeding edge and downright “cool”, does it make it the best solution for you?
You can survive without your Facebook page, even Microsoft Word online for a while, but what about your medical records, lab reports and more; in relation to your office, or hospital? Under some certifications and requirements today EMR is considered a medical device; which must operate and function in a specific manner. If medical records and software were like a pace-maker, how much risk would you take?
by medicaltechont | May 23, 2014 | Technology, The Internet
Regulatory trouble is brewing for eBay on both sides of the Atlantic, with watchdogs making plans to investigate how a recent security breach occurred.
eBay is facing a possible European investigation into the breach of its systems, following the launch of a joint probe by three US states into how the auction company handles security.
Details compromised in the breach, which were made public earlier this week included customers’ names, encrypted passwords, email addresses, physical addresses, phone numbers and dates of birth. eBay hasn’t said how many of its more than 145 million customers’ details were compromised, however.
Read more:
http://www.zdnet.com/uk/uks-data-watchdog-eyes-probe-into-ebays-very-serious-breach-7000029811/
