Intel

More than six years after a data breach that disclosed 2.81 million patients’ protected health information, Banner Health has agreed to pay $1.25 million to the U.S. government to settle potential violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), Campus Safety Magazine recently reported. The Arizona-based healthcare system also agreed to implement changes to better protect patient information.…

A new report based on a survey of health care providers found that an alarming number of physicians have used alcohol or controlled substances while on the job. The survey, conducted by All Points North, revealed that 1 in 7 physicians admitted to consuming alcohol or using other controlled substances at work during the last three months, with more than…

Over $111 million in damages was recently awarded to a man who was reportedly left with \"catastrophic\" damage to his left leg after a surgery for a fracture he suffered while playing soccer in 2017. Anuj Thapa was 19 years old and a first-year student at St. Cloud State University when the accident occurred, sending him by ambulance to a…

A historic labor shortage is continuing to challenge long-term care facilities, where workers are dealing with high levels of burnout, reduced one-on-one time with patients and other strains, a recent NPR report detailed. The conditions are “brutal,” the president of the largest nonprofit senior housing provider in the U.S. told NPR, and researchers are warning that the situation could have…

A family of four was reportedly vaccinated against COVID-19 by mistake on Oct. 4 when they tried to get their annual flu shots at a Walgreens pharmacy in Evansville, Indiana. The parents claim that shortly after they and their 4- and 5-year-old children received what they thought was the flu vaccine, a pharmacist called to explain that they all had…

More than a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, the relentless pressure on health care workers continues to exact a toll. Just this month, dozens of nurses at St. Vincent Hospital in Massachusetts went on strike to protest staffing shortages; a physicians union in Washington state staged protests over alleged safety violations and staffing shortages; and a national nurses union raised…

Nursing homes in some areas would be required to test staff and visitors for COVID-19 on a weekly basis under planned rules from the Trump administration. The testing requirement, announced July 22 as part of a set of initiatives aimed at further protecting nursing home residents from coronavirus, would apply to all nursing homes in states with a 5 percent…

A shortage of acute care doctors and nurses to care for patients suffering from COVID-19 has forced many medical professionals to assume new roles and responsibilities. They are working long hours treating an unprecedented volume of gravely ill patients, often in unfamiliar settings and with insufficient personal protective gear. Many are forced to make life-and-death decisions due to shortages of…

With new models of care evolving and new entrants into the market, there have been many changes in the healthcare environment since the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Brad Rosgen, a healthcare practice leader at Farmington Hills, Mich.-based Burns & Wilcox, provides three risk management tips for healthcare organizations in the new environment.

Toronto, ON [March 10, 2014] – In support of Fraud Prevention Month, Burns & Wilcox Canada is encouraging Canadian organizations to re-examine the steps they take to protect themselves from fraud. According to the Shred-it 2013 Information Security Tracker survey, each year, the average organization loses an estimated 5 per cent of its revenues to fraud. Of those organizations, 49…

Breaking news such as the massive data breach at Experian or Target now seems common. Leaving aside the victims of actual fraud, I hear constantly from people who’ve had to swap out every debit and credit card, or whose cards were unilaterally replaced by their bank. This causes all sorts of problems.

Tech firms face multiple perils in addition to cyber risks. Read more at RiskandInsurance.com