Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital Responding to Cyberattack

Posted by Steve Alder

On February 1, 2024, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago announced on its website and social media channels that it is responding to a cybersecurity incident and has been forced to take its network systems offline. The cyberattack has been reported to law enforcement agencies and Lurie Children’s is working collaboratively with those agencies and third-party cybersecurity experts to investigate the attack and bring network systems back online as soon as it is safe to do so.

The 360-bed acute care hospital is a leading provider of pediatric care in Illinois and one of the biggest children’s healthcare providers in the Midwest, serving 239,000 children each year. The cyberattack has disrupted normal operations and caused delays to medical care for certain patients, with ultrasound and CT scan results temporarily unavailable. Some appointments and elective procedures have been canceled to ensure patient safety. The hospital has confirmed that its emergency services are unaffected, and it is operating under a first-come, first-served approach and is prioritizing emergency patients.

The system-wide network outage has affected computers, Internet access, email, and phone lines at the main hospital, outpatient centers, and primary care offices. Lurie Children’s Hospital apologized for the inconvenience caused and said it is actively working to resolve the issue as soon as possible and is trying to minimize the disruption to patients as far as possible. Lurie Children’s has been working on establishing an emergency helpline to address patient families’ and community providers’ needs but it was not possible to provide a timeline for when normal operations will resume.

Little information has been disclosed so far about the nature of the attack. No ransomware groups appear to have claimed responsibility at this stage. Naturally, at such an early stage of the incident response, it is not possible to tell if any patient data has been stolen. Lurie Children’s will provide updates as the investigation progresses. Just a few days ago, another Chicago hospital confirmed that it had suffered a cyberattack. Saint Anthony Hospital fell victim to a LockBit ransomware attack in December. The LockBit group recently added the hospital to its data leak site as it sought payment of a $900,000 ransom and gave the hospital just 2 days to make payment to prevent the release of the stolen data.

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Paubox Launches HIPAA Compliant Online Forms

Posted by Steve Alder

Paubox, the market leader in HIPAA-compliant email, has added a new feature to the Paubox Email Suite that allows HIPAA-regulated entities to create secure, HIPAA-compliant online forms for collecting patient data.

Healthcare providers need to collect information from patients and the easiest and most efficient way to do so is by using an online form. Patients can be sent a link to a form that they can access on their mobile devices and can quickly and efficiently provide the required information. They can share files and attach images to help their provider better prepare for an appointment, which can shorten appointment times and allow providers to see more patients.

Online forms streamline information collection and can be used for getting feedback, arranging telehealth services, collecting insurance information, and obtaining consent. Before any online form can be used by a HIPAA-regulated entity, they must ensure that the forms are HIPAA-compliant and securely collect, store, and transmit patient data. The providers of online forms are classed as business associates and their forms must be covered by a business associate agreement.

Paubox is a HITRUST CSF-certified leader in HIPAA-compliant communication and marketing solutions for healthcare organizations and is trusted by more than 5,000 healthcare organizations worldwide, including AdaptHealth, CostPlus Drugs, Covenant Health, and SimonMed Imaging. The new Paubox Forms feature is covered by Paubox’s business associate agreement and can be used free of charge with existing Paubox Email Suite paid subscriber plans.

Paubox Forms includes an intuitive form builder that allows healthcare organizations to create forms for a variety of different healthcare needs, including customizable question types such as text fields, dropdowns, multiple-choice, signature collection, and secure file uploads. Paubox Forms integrates directly with Paubox Marketing and enhances the efficiency of patient communications and marketing and allows patients and staff to share information and files without the cumbersome need for portals or extra steps.

“With Paubox Forms, we’re setting a new standard for secure patient data collection in healthcare. Providers can gather essential information effortlessly while upholding the highest standards of HIPAA compliance and data protection. It’s our commitment to advancing healthcare communication with solutions that are secure and seamlessly integrated into daily workflows, empowering providers to deliver better care without compromising on privacy or efficiency,” Hoala Greevy, CEO of Paubox told The HIPAA Journal. “Paubox Forms was inspired by our commitment to innovation and customer feedback. We’ve created a solution that not only meets the current needs of healthcare providers but also paves the way for future advancements in secure healthcare communication.”

Early adopters of the forms have benefitted from the speed and efficiency of data collection. “As the landscape changes, remote clients need new workflows designed around them,” said Tony Cox, CIO at Henderson Behavioral Health, who has recently started using Paubox Forms. “The biggest advantage of an online form over paper is speed, getting the consent or Release of Information in before the client’s appointment, which allows us to be better prepared and see more clients.”

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