According to a survey from The Pew Charitable Trusts, 81%t of adults surveyed favor improved patient and provider access to health information. More than two-thirds of consumers want their clinicians to share health information that isn't presently required by federal data-sharing policies (Trust, 2021).

The Office for Civil Rights has identified that hackers have heavily targeted the healthcare industry in 2020 and 2021, hoping to get unauthorized access to sensitive electronic protected health information (ePHI). Between 2019 and 2020, the amount of unprotected ePHI breaches reported to the US Department of Health and Human Services' Office for Civil Rights (OCR) that affected 500 or more people due to hacking or IT problems climbed by 45 %! In addition, hacking or IT events accounted for 66% of all breaches impacting 500 or more people reported to OCR in 2020.

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For the majority of my life, I've been physically active and healthy. Even though I've always had a few extra pounds, I strive to eat healthily and work out often. That didn't stop age and some pandemic laxity from catching up with me. My doctor and I were a little concerned about a couple things at my yearly appointment in December. I made a goal of exercise for January and better eating in 2022.

Cyberscoop reports that after examining the Doxy.me platform, privacy researcher Zach Edwards discovered that the company appeared to be sharing IP addresses and unique device identification numbers with Google, Facebook, and the marketing software company HubSpot.

The AHRQ QuestionBuilder app helps patients and caregivers prepare for medical appointments and maximize visit time.

1. Download the mobile app.
2. Select or create questions to ask.
3. Save the questions to a calendar appointment or send them to any email address so that the information is handy during medical visits.*

As medical devices become more networked, they may become vulnerable to cybersecurity threats. Patients should preserve their personal information, monitor their device for strange symptoms or behaviors, and receive a device check-up from their health care practitioner or the device maker, according to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

This is based on an article from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). CISA is the Nation’s risk advisor, working with partners to defend against today’s threats and collaborating to build a more secure and resilient infrastructure for the future. CISA provides extensive cybersecurity and infrastructure security knowledge which can assist people in applying better personal health information risk management. 

In this article, CISA explains risks associated with mobile device apps and some preventive methods that can be used to better secure your personal information.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning health care providers and people with diabetes of risks associated with use of devices for diabetes management unauthorized for sale in the U.S., whether used alone or along with other devices. These unauthorized diabetes management devices have not been reviewed by the FDA to ensure they provide a reasonable assurance of safety and effectiveness for their intended use. Use of unauthorized devices could result in inaccurate glucose level readings or unsafe insulin dosing, which can lead to injury requiring medical intervention or death.

An article posted in the Journal of the American Medical Association identified that some of the highest-ranking health apps used to assist people with mental health conditions (e.g. depression) and smoking cessation were sharing data with Facebook and Google services and that only a third disclosed such practices.

As Hurricane Florence makes landfall, the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and its federal partners remain in close coordination to help ensure that emergency officials effectively address the needs of at-risk populations as part of disaster response. If you believe that a person or organization covered by the Privacy and Security Rules (a "covered entity") violated your health information privacy rights or otherwise violated the Privacy or Security Rules, you may file a complaint with OCR. For additional information about how to file a complaint, visit OCR's web page on filing complaints at http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/complaints/index.html.