The HIPAA Journal

MARCH 26, 2025

Sunflower Medical Group is facing a class action lawsuit over its recently disclosed data breach involving the protected health information of almost 221,000 current and former patients. Sunflower Medical Group is a private multi-specialty medical practice with four locations in Kansas. Sunflower Medical Group, P.A. ,

Medication 76

Medication HIPAA Insurance 76

Healthcare Dive - Practice Management

MAY 7, 2025

Payer profits fell in 2024 as Americans, especially older ones, utilized more medical care. But efforts to resuscitate margins appear to be working for most — at least for now, according to first quarter results.

Insurance 62

Insurance Medication 62

Healthcare Dive - Practice Management

FEBRUARY 25, 2025

Operating income fell for all but two insurance divisions operated by major payers in the fourth quarter. And 2025 may be no better, after many major payers released outlooks suggesting medical costs will continue climbing this year.

Insurance 99

Insurance Medication 99

The HIPAA Journal

MARCH 28, 2025

The email account was secured the same day, and the forensic investigation confirmed the account was compromised from December 2 to December 4, 2024. This breach also involved a compromised email account and was detected by Restorix on May 30, 2024. Restorix sent notification letters to the affected patients on December 18, 2024.

Business Associate 72

Business Associate HIPAA Insurance Certification 72

The HIPAA Journal

JULY 8, 2024

Palomar Health Medical Group has warned patients that they may have been affected by an April 2024 cyberattack, and DaVita has learned that tracking tools on its website and mobile app may have sent user data to third-party vendors. DaVita Notifies Patients About Tracking Technology Privacy Incident DaVita Inc.,

Medication 128

Medication HIPAA Tests Medical History 128

The HIPAA Journal

APRIL 1, 2025

On or around September 11, 2024, suspicious activity was identified in an employee email account. Third-party digital forensics specialists were engaged to investigate the activity and confirmed that an unauthorized third party had gained access to several employee email accounts from August 19, 2024, to September 25, 2024.

HIPAA 77

HIPAA Insurance Medication 77

Health Populi

AUGUST 21, 2024

Millions of Americans believe they have been treated negatively by a physician due to their weight, insurance status, physical appearance and/or state of mental health, according to a YouGov poll published August 6, 2024. adults 18 and over online in late June 2024. To gauge U.S. Empathy ranks relatively high.

Insurance 71

Insurance Medication Appointments Patient Experience 71

The HIPAA Journal

MARCH 11, 2025

Hillcrest Convalescent Center Hillcrest Convalescent Center in Durham, North Carolina has notified 106,194 individuals about a data security incident identified on June 27, 2024. Notification letters were mailed to all affected individuals on March 3, 2024. The Hillcrest incident involved the data of 106,194 individuals.

HIPAA 69

HIPAA Insurance Medication 69

The HIPAA Journal

APRIL 18, 2025

doing business as Vitruvian Health in Georgia and Tennessee, and Erlanger Health in Tennessee, have been affected by a cyberattack on its debt collection vendor, Nationwide Recovery Service.Suspicious activity was identified within the Nationwide Recovery Service network on July 11, 2024.

HIPAA 57

HIPAA Hospital Documentation Insurance 57

The HIPAA Journal

APRIL 22, 2024

Email accounts have been compromised at the University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics Authority and the Medical Home Network in Illinois. The emails did not contain any Social Security numbers, health insurance ID numbers, or financial information. 20, 2023, and Dec.

Medication 117

Medication HIPAA Hospital Billing 117

Practice Index

OCTOBER 31, 2024

Practice Managers were particularly concerned that the Chancellor Rachel Reeves had not heeded their pleas about the impact of employer National Insurance increases. The United Medical Associate Professionals has launched a crowdfunding campaign to challenge the latest guidance from the Royal College of GPs.

Huddles/Rounds 52

Huddles/Rounds Insurance Appointments Medication 52

The HIPAA Journal

APRIL 25, 2024

Several class action lawsuits have been filed against City of Hope National Medical Center, a National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated cancer treatment and research center, over a recently disclosed data breach that exposed the protected health information of more than 827,000 individuals.

Medication 120

Medication HIPAA Medical History Best Practices 120

The HIPAA Journal

MARCH 19, 2025

Access TeleCare, Texas The Dallas, TX-based acute and specialty telemedicine provider Access TeleCare identified unauthorized access to an employees email account on January 8, 2024. On or around November 18, 2024, suspicious activity was identified in an employee email account.

HIPAA 75

HIPAA Documentation Insurance Medication 75

Health Populi

JUNE 11, 2024

between 2023 and 2024, according to the 2024 Milliman Medical Index. Milliman also calculated that the largest driver of cost increase in health care, accounting for nearly one-half of medical cost increases, was pharmacy, the cost of prescription drugs, which grew 13% in the year.

Medication 77

Medication Follow-Up Billing Insurance 77

The Healthcare Blog

MAY 12, 2025

Other insurers including UnitedHealthcare and Centene also share concerns about methodological rigidity and that the rating system may have diverged from its purpose of improving patient care. In March 2023, both insurers were penalized after allegedly missing a single CMS secret shopper phone call , a call they claim was never received.

Insurance 81

Insurance Documentation Customer Service Patient Care 81

The HIPAA Journal

MAY 12, 2025

The HIPAA Journal first reported a potential data breach in August 2024, after the RansomHub ransomware group added NeuroSav to its dark web data leak site. The post Georgia & Missouri Healthcare Providers Notify Patients About 2024 Hacking Incidents appeared first on The HIPAA Journal.

HIPAA 72

HIPAA Follow-Up Billing Tests 72

Valant

JULY 29, 2024

This code is acceptable to insurers when used to describe a marked change in mental health status not attributable to other factors. While insurers prefer more descriptive ICD-10 codes, mental health practitioners should not list something specific if the patient’s medical record cannot support the diagnosis.

Diagnostics 97

Diagnostics HIPAA Insurance Medication 97

The HIPAA Journal

JULY 4, 2024

Gaia Software has disclosed details of a February 2024 cyberattack, Pinnacle Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine Specialists are investigating an April 2024 cyberattack, and OB GYN Specialists of Lima have discovered the improper disposal of patient data.

HIPAA 120

HIPAA Documentation Billing Insurance 120

The HIPAA Journal

OCTOBER 29, 2024

According to its substitute breach notice, external cybersecurity professionals were engaged to investigate the incident and confirmed that a network intrusion occurred between January 4, 2024, and January 8, 2024, involving the exfiltration of a limited amount of patient data. The affected individuals have now been notified by mail.

Insurance 109

Insurance HIPAA Business Associate Medication 109

The HIPAA Journal

MARCH 20, 2025

Lake Washington Vascular was unable to determine exactly what information was viewed or extracted from its systems and said the information likely compromised included names, dates of birth, addresses, diagnostic test results, medical histories, diagnosis and treatment information, payer identification numbers, and government-issued identifiers.

Hospice 81

Hospice HIPAA Medical History Diagnostics 81

The HIPAA Journal

JULY 3, 2024

Suspicious network activity was identified on March 27, 2024, and third-party cybersecurity specialists were engaged to investigate the activity. The group says it has given the hospital until July 8, 2024, to pay the ransom demand and will leak the stolen data if payment is not made.

Hospital 126

Hospital HIPAA Insurance Medication 126

Practice Index

NOVEMBER 7, 2024

Backlash over new National Insurance costs The Government has faced a backlash after it failed to guarantee support for practices facing payment of the employers’ National Insurance increase. The project is being developed by a board including PCN clinical directors, Kernow local medical committee and the GP federation Kernow Health.

Huddles/Rounds 52

Huddles/Rounds Appointments Follow-Up Insurance 52

The HIPAA Journal

MARCH 24, 2025

OrthoMinds, an Alpharetta, Georgia-based provider of orthodontic practice management software, has recently announced a November 2024 security incident that potentially resulted in unauthorized access to patients protected health information. What is not clear at this stage is how many individuals have been affected.

HIPAA 52

HIPAA Insurance Medication 52

The HIPAA Journal

APRIL 29, 2025

It has now been confirmed that the compromised data included patients’ full names, addresses, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, and medical record numbers. Since February, Endue Software has been reviewing the compromised data to determine which clients and patients have been affected.

Hospital 78

Hospital HIPAA Insurance Medication 78

The HIPAA Journal

APRIL 28, 2025

Alternate Solutions Health Network explained in its substitute breach notice that the forensic investigation confirmed that the account was breached on or around May 30, 2024. Suspicious activity was identified in an employee’s email account in October 2024.

HIPAA 75

HIPAA Billing Hospital Admissions 75

The HIPAA Journal

JULY 5, 2024

The breach was detected on March 25, 2024, and immediate action was taken to prevent further unauthorized access. An investigation was launched which determined that between November 2, 2023, and March 29, 2024, the vendor accessed and downloaded information from a Kairos database.

HIPAA 122

HIPAA Insurance Medication 122

Health Populi

NOVEMBER 18, 2024

patients’ attitudes about health care and technology in June 2024, publishing the report earlier this month. health consumers is with the health care system industry segments like hospitals, insurance companies, and pharma — as patients differentiate between the “system” and the “people” working in it.

Insurance 62

Insurance Patient Centered Care Communication Medication 62

Health Populi

JANUARY 2, 2024

Not known for its salubrious qualities, Las Vegas will nonetheless be a locus for health, medical care, and well-being inspiration next week when the Consumer Technology Association convenes the annual CES featuring innovations in consumer technology. “Elevance Health, a health insurance company?

Acute Care 87

Acute Care Collaboration Medication Hospital 87

The HIPAA Journal

MARCH 28, 2025

The forensic investigation confirmed unauthorized network access between November 24, 2024, and January 20, 2025, during which time the threat actor viewed or copied information from its network. Notification letters will be mailed to the affected individuals when the file review is concluded.

Appointments 55

Appointments HIPAA Insurance Medication 55

Health Populi

JUNE 30, 2023

in 2024, according to the annual report from the PwC Health Research Institute, Medical cost trend: Behind the numbers 2024. Every year, the PwC HRI team goes behind those numbers to assess cost inflators and deflators which underpin annual medical inflation. Take prescription drugs pushing medical trend upward.

Medication 87

Medication Hospital Appointments Insurance 87

The HIPAA Journal

JULY 9, 2024

SouthCoast Health and Privia Medical Group in Georgia have notified patients about a cyberattack and data breach that occurred in June 2023. The review of the affected files was not completed until June 13, 2024. Call 4 Health Issues Notifications About March 2024 Cyberattack Call 4 Health, Inc.,

Triage 123

Triage HIPAA Documentation Billing 123

The HIPAA Journal

OCTOBER 31, 2024

Mystic Valley Elder Services, a Malden, Massachusetts-based non-profit agency providing home and community-based care to elders and adults living with disabilities, has started issuing individual notifications about a cyberattack and data breach that was identified on April 5, 2024.

Hospital 116

Hospital Business Associate HIPAA Insurance 116

The HIPAA Journal

JULY 5, 2024

Providence Mission Heritage Endocrinology In May 2024, Providence Mission Heritage Endocrinology in Mission Viejo, CA, discovered an insider breach that involved unauthorized access to clinical records. The first instance occurred on December 15, 2020, and it continued until May 15, 2024.

HIPAA 120

HIPAA Patient Records Insurance Hospital 120

The HIPAA Journal

JULY 8, 2024

The Breach of Personal Information Notification Act was amended by Senate Bill 824 and was signed into law by state Governor Josh Shapiro on June 28, 2024. The amended law takes effect on September 26, 2024.

HIPAA 122

HIPAA Insurance Billing Medication 122

Healthcare Dive - Practice Management

FEBRUARY 11, 2025

The massive insurer now expects to lose 550,000 Medicare Advantage members — roughly one-tenth of its individual MA footprint — this year as a result of plan cuts.

Insurance 70

Insurance Medication 70

The HIPAA Journal

APRIL 29, 2024

Berry, Dunn, McNeil & Parker, LLC (BerryDunn) provides health data analytics services to healthcare providers, health insurers, and government regulatory and healthcare policy agencies and its clients provide BerryDunn with personal and health data to allow the firm to perform its contracted services.

HIPAA 116

HIPAA Insurance Medication 116

The HIPAA Journal

APRIL 26, 2024

Los Angeles County Department of Health Services’ employees were targeted in a recent phishing campaign, and almost 2,800 Catholic Medical Center patients have been affected by a data breach at one of its vendors. The email accounts were accessed by an unauthorized third party between February 19, 2024, and February 20, 2024.

Business Associate 120

Business Associate HIPAA Tests Medication 120