Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1156517
20 ASC MANAGEMENT 2nd cyberattack at Maryland surgery center affects more than 2,000 patients - 5 key details to know By Angie Stewart P alisades Eye Surgery Center in Bethesda, Md., was hit by a data breach, according to the HHS Office for Civil Rights. Five details: 1. e email hack at Rockville Eye Surgery Center, which is doing business as Palisades Eye Surgery Center, affected 2,696 individuals. A surgery center representative wasn't available for comment at the time of publication. 2. e surgery center reported the breach on July 17. It's unclear when the breach occurred, but no business associate was present. 3. In February 2018, law practice Jackson Lewis wrote a letter on behalf of Palisades Eye Surgery Center informing Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh that the practice had experienced a cyberattack. 4. e incident was discovered on Jan. 23, 2018, and potentially exposed the names, addresses, Social Security numbers and medical informa- tion of 10 patients or prospective patients, ac- cording to the letter. Palisades notified patients of the unauthorized access. 5. Jackson Lewis said the surgery center also reexamined its privacy and data security policies and procedures, reviewed its techni- cal security policies and procedures, and made improvements to minimize the risk of future cyberattacks.n The top, bottom 5 states for RN pay By Rachel Popa T he average pay for a reg- istered nurse in the U.S. is $68,553, according to a report from job seeker website ZipRecruiter. ZipRecruiter compiles data from job postings to calculate RN pay. RN pay can vary from $56,000 to $76,500 across the U.S. The top five states for RN pay: 1. New York - $71,096 2. Massachusetts - $70,718 3. Maryland - $66,833 4. Connecticut - $65,538 5. Vermont - $65,250 The bottom five states for RN pay: 1. North Carolina - $50,500 2. Florida - $53,862 3. Michigan - $56,617 4. Illinois - $56,934 5. Missouri - $56,934 n Pennsylvania's $12.5M tax on ASCs could cause dozens to close, lawmaker says — 5 key points By Angie Stewart A proposed tax on Pennsylvania ASCs would hurt patients and the practices themselves, according to Pennsylvania state Rep. Greg Rothman, R-Cumberland, who wrote an op-ed to Central Penn Business Journal. Five key points: 1. Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf has said his proposed budget asks for "no new taxes," but it does include a tax on ASCs that the governor tried and failed to pass in 2018, Mr. Rothman said. 2. The tax would take $12.5 million from surgery centers, which already pay income, sales and property taxes, unlike Pennsylvania's general hospitals. 3. The tax could render ASCs unable to afford certain equipment and cause up to 25 percent of Pennsylvania's surgery centers to close, ac- cording to the Pennsylvania Ambulatory Surgery Association and a coali- tion of state medical societies. 4. ASC closures would force patients into higher-cost hospital settings, Mr. Rothman said. "This ASC tax would be a blow to competition and innovation in health- care. By tying the invisible hand of the free market in healthcare with burdensome taxes, we get less health and less care," he said. 5. Mr. Rothman called on the House Republican Caucus, Pennsylvania Medical Society and others to challenge the proposed tax, which would affect the commonwealth's 234 Medicare-certified ASCs. n