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When the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the globe in 2020, the need for social distancing and isolation impacted the availability of in-person, non-emergency healthcare appointments. As a result, telehealth became a common way for healthcare providers to serve their patients without seeing them in-person, and with its rise came related HIPAA compliance concerns.

These days, with recent ransomware attacks disrupting healthcare providers and affecting millions of Americans, it’s become painfully clear that cybersecurity in this sector is no longer just an IT issue—it’s a patient safety issue, and the stakes are higher than ever. The proposed Health Infrastructure Security and Accountability Act of 2024 (HISAA), spearheaded by Senators Ron Wyden and Mark Warner, aims to address these vulnerabilities head-on.

In the healthcare industry, artificial intelligence (AI) is being used to save lives—using data sets, these systems are being trained to examine imaging and successfully detect potential health risks, like cancer. However, as with every technological development and shift in its use, new risks have also emerged related to the use of AI, as have measures to help mitigate them—one of which is the HITRUST AI Risk Management Assessment.

Ever been to a water park and gone down one of those enormous slides? If so, you likely remember there being a park lifeguard at the top of the slide and near the bottom to ensure your continued safety. But imagine if those employees weren’t trained in safety and first aid—of course, the ride was likely designed well and with other safeguards, but it would make for a serious oversight by the park to do all that while not also ensuring their employees keep guests safe.

Source: Pharmaceutical Compliance Monitor On March 31, 2010 the Drug Enforcement Agency’s (DEA) rule, “Electronic Prescriptions for Controlled Substances” has revised its regulations to give physicians the choice of writing prescriptions for controlled substances the traditional method or through the electronic system. Originally, the regulation restricted physicians and practitioners from writing electronic prescriptions for controlled substances (EPCS).

In the 2018 Marvel film Black Panther, genius inventor Princess Shuri quips that “just because something works does not mean it cannot be improved.” It’s a message the healthcare industry has taken to heart, as it has continuously searched for ways to improve the patient experience.

Perhaps believing they’re simply too small for the government to consider, some smaller healthcare providers will choose to either fly under the radar or hope that regulators of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) won’t notice their lack of correct processes and controls. However, this likely won’t work—in fact, over 55% of HIPAA fines in 2022 were levied against small practices.

Though HITRUST released v11 of the HITRUST CSF back in January 2023, as of April 16, 2024, HITRUST released CSF v11.3. Standard practice is for HITRUST to update their CSF annually—at a minimum—and this v11.3 is a relatively minor revision with two main differences: