Humana Health Sued for a Healthcare Data Breach
Like many other industries this year, the medical field has seen changes in how people work and operate, especially when it comes to online systems. Some practices have had issues when it comes to adhering to HIPAA compliance and properly protecting PHI to keep their patient data safe.
Recently, a patient sued Humana, an American health insurance company, and their partner Cotiviti, a healthcare analytics company, upon claims that their business associates were negligent with PHI security. Here’s an inside look at the healthcare data breach and how OC Cloud9 can help you adhere to HIPAA compliance and industry standards.
Humana’s Healthcare Data Breach
In the fall of 2020, Humana was struck by a healthcare data breach that exposed the personal information of around 65,000 of its health plan members. The organization only recently notified those whose information had been compromised and provided them with the option for extra services as a remedy to the situation.
Humana contracted another company, Cotiviti, and that company partnered with a subcontractor who provides medical record requests. An employee at the subcontractor company, Visionary Medical Systems, was authorized to access patient data for Humana. However, the lawsuit claims that the employee inappropriately disclosed data to individuals on Google Drive.
Class Action Lawsuit Following Healthcare Data Breach
Now, months later, a patient affected by the breach is filing a lawsuit against Humana and Cotiviti. The main force behind the lawsuit is the delay in notifying patients and the lack of information given when the notification finally came out.
The lawsuit also claims that Humana and the vendors did not properly handle protected health information per standards connected to PHI. As the employee was able to retrieve and upload sensitive patient information easily online, the lawsuit also claims that the companies failed to implement robust security measures. They did not properly secure, encrypt, or maintain patient information according to industry standards.
Adhering to HIPAA-Compliance with OC Cloud9
The team at OC Cloud9 understands the importance of implementing necessary precautions to ensure your patient information is safe and that you stay out of situations like this one. We empower your team by protecting the integrity of your patient data. All emails and data are encrypted as required by HIPAA, so you don’t have to worry about the security of your PHI. Learn more about how you can protect your practice from a healthcare data breach with our Cloud9 HIPAA Compliant Solutions today.
Do you have questions about setting up your medical practice with our HIPAA Compliant Solutions? Our team is here to help.
We established OC Cloud9 to help bring the highest-quality service and cutting-edge innovations in private cloud technology to local businesses in the Southern California area.
Born from Orange County Computer, a cybersecurity and technology repair company with over 20 years of experience in the local area, OC Cloud 9 offers large scale technology solutions and consultancy services to companies and organizations in a wide variety of fields.
Our mission is to treat our customers’ businesses as if they were our own. Too often, we see companies operate with IT infrastructure that is outdated and just waiting for an attack. Their current systems don’t align with their company and its goals or effectively work to achieve them. At OC Cloud9, we proactively protect our client data by staying one step or more ahead of potential data breaches. Our team is passionate about data security and protection.
OC Cloud9 and Orange County Computer have a proven track record of happy customers with seamless transitions into private cloud solutions. Our beginning-to-end process ensures your business needs are met through extensive research, design, deployment, and implementation of your cloud services.
Learn more about our solutions by visiting our Learning Center or speak with a member of our Cloud Solutions Team any time at our Orange County office by calling 949-449-2808
