Cyber Threats, Data Breaches, Privacy Issues, and the Health Care Provider

Data and privacy breach enforcement, which is gaining momentum in 2018, took the national spotlight in 2017 because of several high-profile events. First, eClinicalWorks, an electronic health records (EHR) vendor, was held responsible for the accuracy and truthfulness of its EHR certifications and reached a $155 million settlement with the federal government for civil fraud and kickback charges due to a whistleblower. Second, more than 145 million Americans potentially had their Social Security numbers and driver’s license numbers breached by Equifax, a major consumer credit reporting agency, in September 2017. Finally, Uber revealed in November 2017 that hackers stole the account information of 57 million drivers and riders, and that the company paid hackers a $100,000 ransom to keep the breach a secret from government authorities and affected individuals for over a year.