Doctors permanently close medical practice after failed restoration of backups
The Star Tribune of Minnesota reports that Michigan medical practice Brookside Hearing and ENT made the decision to close the practice after their patient data was destroyed in a ransomware attack. The attack was reported to have destroyed patient data, documents, as well as the backup data. The owners reported that due to low likelihood of a ransom payment resulting in access to their data, they closed their business without even a patient appointment list to be able to advise their patients about the permanent closure.
Whether the permanent loss in patient records will result in severe financial penalties from the federal government remains to be seen, but the potential exists due to the legal HIPAA requirement to retain patient data.
This could have been avoided via reasonable IT security practices and the use of business continuity instead of whatever “backup” their medical records vendor was providing. Call Dolce Vita IT Solutions at 405-348-1192 to find out how we protect client data with a reliable system which self-tests recovery EVERY DAY.
https://healthitsecurity.com/news/michigan-practice-to-shutter-after-hackers-delete-patient-files
