Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/731691
114 CIO / HEALTH IT Banner Health May Face 3 New Lawsuits After Security Breach By Alyssa Rege T hree law firms are investigating the possibility of filing a lawsuit against Phoenix-based Banner Health over the data breach that affected 3.7 million individ- uals earlier this month, according to the Gree- ley Tribune. New York City-based Weitz and Luxenberg, Seattle-based Kelelr Rohrback and Phoe- nix-based Gallagher & Kennedy are consid- ering class-action lawsuits against the health system, alleging negligence following the breach. An Arizona law firm has already filed a class-action lawsuit against Banner in Mar- icopa County on behalf of a Glendale, Ariz., physician whose information may have been affected by the breach. Robert Carey, a partner at the Hagens Ber- man law firm in Ariz., said healthcare leaders should be at the forefront of the fight to keep patient information secure. "Healthcare people should be on the front edge of how to protect systems in leading the charge, and the lawsuit will help incentivize" an improvement in security, said Mr. Carey. "ere has to be a great enough cost on the back end to motivate people to do the right thing on the front end." An attorney at Weitz and Luxenberg also said the lawsuits ensure that the situation is rem- edied in a timely fashion, according to the report. Banner officials said they cannot comment on potential litigation, according to the report. n Vendor Error Leaves 18k CHI Franciscan Hospital Patients' Information Available Online By Akanksha Jayanthi C HI Franciscan Health Highline Medical Center in Burien, Wash., is notifying patients of a po- tential data breach after a vendor working on behalf of the medical center inadvertently left patient information accessible via the internet. R-C Healthcare Management notified the hospital July 22 that some patient information had been accessible online from April 21 through June 13. According to HHS Office for Civil Rights breach notification portal, the incident affects 18,399 individuals. Potentially compromised information includes patient names, service dates, health insurance information and Social Security numbers. No medical informa- tion was included. The incident affects patients whose data was involved in account reporting functions from 1993 to 1994 and 2008 to 2013, according to the hos- pital's notice. R-C Healthcare reportedly told CHI Franciscan it se- cured the files as of June 13. The health system says it has no knowledge any of the information has been accessed, viewed, acquired or compromised by an unauthorized third party but is offering free credit monitoring for affected patients. n MU Payment Adjustments Begin Oct. 1 for 2% of Hospitals That Did Not Successfully Attest By Akanksha Jayanthi H ospitals participating in the Medicare EHR Incentive Program that did not demonstrate meaningful use of an EHR in 2015 will see payment adjustments beginning Oct. 1, according to CMS. But the good news is just 2 percent of eligible hospitals are subject to the adjustments. The upcoming payment adjustments are tied to hospitals' EHR reporting period in 2015. They are applied as a reduction to the applicable percentage increase to the Inpatient Prospec- tive Payment System payment rate, which reduces the update to the IPPS standardized amount. Hospitals that did not ade- quately attest face up to a 75 percent negative payment ad- justment. However, the majority of eligible hospitals and critical access hospitals — 98 percent — have successfully demonstrated meaningful use and will avoid the upcoming payment adjust- ments. The 2 percent of hospitals that did not demonstrate mean- ingful use were permitted to apply for hardship exceptions to avoid the upcoming payment adjustments. Applications for such exceptions were due July 1. n