Vulnerability Management Program Development Program

All Americans require assurance and protection measures to shield their daily lives and healthcare laws, government regulations, and approaches do only that. The United States government manages these requirements with the expectation of enhancing the strength of the general population while building up the tools, alongside resources and programs to associate in the conveyance of medical care services. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) alongside the security law have affected preventive care services and how it is conveyed. HIPAA was intended to guarantee that the suitable systems were actualized to protect patient's data while getting care.

Healthcare technology has grown and evolved over time. With the conversion to electronic medical records and the creation of social media just to name a few, ensuring patient privacy is of the utmost importance for healthcare facilities in this day and age. In order for an organization to avoid hefty fines, it is imperative that a healthcare administrator maintains compliance with the standards and regulations associated with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). This paper will provide a summary

To remain in compliance with HIPPA and HITECH, security planning is essential for data backup and recovery. Assessing risks to determine the potential downfalls of any health information system is essential. Once those risks are identified, policies and procedures can be created, as well as implemented and enforced to ensure a safety culture. For examples, an organization will have a policy on the appropriated downtime procedure at their facility. This policy will ensure adequate details on the proper procedures, ensuring staff feel confident. By performing downtime procedures, the organization is staying compliant with regulations and ensuring a safe and easy data backup and recovery plan (Hawkins, 2013).

Regulation placed upon the healthcare system only seek to improve safety and security of the patients we care for. The enactment of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) and the enactment of Meaningful Use Act the United States government has set strict regulations on the security of health information and has allotted for stricter penalties for non-compliance. The advancement of electronic health record (EHR) systems has brought greater fluidity and compliance with healthcare but has also brought greater security risk of protected information. In order to ensure compliance with government standards organizations must adapt

Due to the high risk to information systems, many organizations do not conduct a periodic risk analysis and are not able to know where they stand. This may seem blatantly obvious, but it is something many of the healthcare organizations continue to wonder about. In order to improve the effectiveness and proficiency of the health care system, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), Public Law 104-191, includes Administrative Simplification requirements for HHS to accept national standards for electronic health care operations and code sets, unique health identifiers, and security (Sullivan, 2014). Enforcement of the Privacy Rule that began on April 14, 2003 for most HIPAA covered objects.

The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is responsible for issuing periodic guidance on the provisions in the HIPAA Security Rule (45 C.F.R §§ 164.302-318). The privacy and security risk analysis is the first step in helping health organizations determine any potential risk that might cause a data breach. In December 2014, OCR opened an investigation after receiving notification from Achorage Community Mental Health Services (ACMHS) regarding a breach of unsecured PHI affecting 2743 individuals due to malware compromising the security of its information technology resources. It turned out that ACMHS adopted sample Security Rule policies and procedures in 2005. The security incident was the direct result of ACMHS failing to identify and address basic risks in the privacy risk analysis.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act also known as HIPAA was first signed into law on the federal level in 1996. Since it was signed into law it has had a huge effect on patient’s privacy, healthcare workers and even insurance company’s. “HIPAA is intended to improve efficiency throughout health care and requires that health care providers adhere to standardized national privacy and confidentiality protections.” (OMA p .236). It’s an invaluable tool that has created a standard of compliance across the healthcare field.

The government has also ensured compliance with HIPAA by implementing the HIPAA audit. The focus on specific controls such topics as policies and procedures to ensure privacy, confidentiality of the PHI of patients and evaluation of the action plans of the violation of security. Other security measures, including background checks of employees, all internal restrictions on the availability of private information and physical security measures to determine if they comply with the guidelines established by the HIPAA

Most people have a basic understanding about HIPAA and what it entails, but for future healthcare leaders, it is a critical issue. The goals behind the HIPAA privacy rules are very beneficial for keeping individual’s health information private, but it does place a heavy burden on organizations to ensure the information remains protected. Healthcare leaders have always had to adapt to change, but it is becoming increasingly necessary to have leaders that can adapt quicker than ever. Not only do they need to keep up with the technological advances in healthcare, but they also need to become compliant with the new and ever-changing healthcare laws. Numerous modifications have been implemented under HIPAA in the

Medical Organizations or Hospitals should manage PHI effectively by implementing policies and procedures. Persuasive training on techniques to appropriately handle and protect PHI should be given to all the employees who handle PHI. This includes access controls, risk management, work-force sanction policies, risk analysis, information system activity reviews, assigned security responsibility, and

Information security and HIPAA policies should cover all the necessary access and control measures needed to secure information system resources and deter, shield and protect the organization from security breaches. The scenario demonstrates that the organizations overall information security posture is poor. The HIPAA, remote access and retention policies within the information management division need to be addressed due to the healthcare organizations legal obligation to ensure the privacy of protected information. Security safeguards can be addressed through vigilance and the implementation logical and administrative access controls. Properly administered HIPAA Privacy and remote access policies would not only help alleviate but quickly identify 3 undocumented accounts with global remote access. HIPAA security standards require any user with access to protected health information have a documented need to

The following risks, threats, and vulnerabilities were found in a healthcare IT infrastructure servicing patients with life-threatening situations. Given the list, select which of the seven domains of a typical

Under the HIPAA Security Rule, health care providers are required to conduct an accurate and thorough analysis of the potential risks and vulnerabilities. Protecting the confidentiality, integrity, availability, and privacy of data in health care is very important. For a risk analysis, health care providers would prioritize risks based on the severity of the impact that it would cause their patients and practices (Security Risk Analysis TipSheet, 2014). In addition, identifying the potential threats to patient privacy and security (Security Risk Analysis TipSheet, 2014). A risk analysis process would include determining the likelihood and impact of potential risk to electronic protected health information, implementing security measures to

What is the risk impact or risk factor (critical, major, minor) that you would qualitatively assign to the risks, threats, and vulnerabilities you identified for the LAN-to-WAN Domain for the healthcare and HIPPA compliance scenario?

HIPAA, Privacy Act and other major healthcare laws put emphasis on security of healthcare data and information. A major or minor breach can cause an organization to face legal liability that can lead to loss of goodwill (Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, 2015). The organization may also be required to take corrective actions, resulting in waste of time, money and resources. Moreover, delay in progress of developing and implementing a project can place a considerable financial burden on the organization; as a result, it is imperative that organizations maintain effective vendor management systems and processes.