The Cybersecurity Act of 2015’s Effect on Health Care

PBIRx®

Intelligent Solutions in Pharmacy Benefits

612 Wheelers Farms Road, Milford, CT 06461

(888) 797-2479

On December 18, 2015, President Barack Obama signed the Cybersecurity Act of 2015 into law - an act that was a part of the federal omnibus government spending package. Within the Cybersecurity Act, approximately nine pages of health care related concerns are covered, outlining a plan for how to improve security within the health care system.

Considering that we live in a world nearly dominated by technology, it is not unusual to hear of cyber attacks and breaches in online security. However, knowing the nature of health care data passed through digital systems, it is important that action be taken to limit the amount of breaches that occur. Not to mention, a report from Accenture found that “data breaches over the next five years will cost U.S health systems $305 billion in cumulative lifetime revenue,” making it even more critical that something be done to prevent this.

Below, we highlight some of the main points regarding the health care industry that are included in the Cybersecurity Act:

1. According to congress.gov, the Department of Health and Human services must bring together a task force that can: a) put together a single system that the federal government can use to share intelligence about cybersecurity threats that affect the health care industry; and b) recommend protections for electronic health records and medical devices that are networked.
2. Within one year of the act’s enactment, the Secretary must submit a report on the preparedness of the health care industry when it comes to responding to cybersecurity threats to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives.
3. Information about how to improve preparedness for and responses to cybersecurity threats in the health care industry must be distributed to health care industry stakeholders.

For more information about improving cybersecurity in the health care industry, be sure to read through all of Section 405 of the Cybersecurity Act.

At PBIRx, we place a great deal of our focus on cybersecurity efforts to ensure that our clients’ data and protected health information (PHI) is kept secure. Not only have we worked to make our office a safe place through the use of access key pads and secure locks, but we have also worked with IT professionals to protect and encrypt any and all technological devices. For example, our computers become locked when not in use and we have software installed to prevent access to unsafe websites. Last but not least, our employees are required to attend quarterly cybersecurity trainings to ensure that they are up to date on the latest policies and procedures along with annual HIPAA Certification requirements.

For more information about PBIRx and how we work to protect our clients’ information, please give us a call at (888) 797-2479 today.