HITRUST, AMA Providing Cyber Risk Education Workshops for Small Practices

HITRUST and the American Medical Association (AMA) announced partnership to educate physicians and their staff on key areas of information risk management, HIPAA compliance and cybersecurity.

The workshops will provide targeted guidance to small practices, which often lack the resources available to large organizations, to help make good cyber hygiene manageable, the organizations said in a joint press release. The workshops will be held across the country in conjunction with the recently announced HITRUST Community Extension Program.

With ransomware and other cyber attacks increasingly targeting the healthcare industry, many clinics, physician offices, and other small providers are looking for local, community-based resources to help guide them through the journey of establishing governance and risk management programs to avoid a cyber-related breach or event that would disrupt their organization and expose the confidential information of their patients or members.

The first workshop will be hosted by Childrens Health in Dallas and is scheduled for October 9, 2017. More information on the dates, locations, agenda and registration requirements can be found on the HITRUST website.

“Children’s Health was an early partner in the launch of the HITRUST CyberAid program, which has eased implementing and managing an effective cyber defense program within small organizations, and has been deployed to over 50 physician practices associated with Children’s Health - with impressive results including no undetected and unmitigated cyber events,” Pamela Arora, SVP and CIO, Children’s Health, said in a statement. “We see partnering with physician clinics in the community as a crucial way for us to help them better protect their organizations against cyber threats and, in turn, that protects the entire healthcare community.”

“As cyber threats continue to increase, the AMA believes it is important to arm small practices with the tools they need to keep their practices – and their patients’ information – secure, “MA President David O. Barbe, M.D., said in a statement. “We look forward to working with HITRUST to help small practices manage the cybersecurity challenges they may be facing.”

“Trying to determine the best way to secure my practice from cyber threats was a significant – and at times, overwhelming – undertaking,” Dr. J. Stefan Walker, a practicing physician in a small practice in Corpus Christi, Texas, said in a prepared statement. “Many existing cybersecurity resources and education programs are geared toward larger health care organizations and are not practical for a practice with only a handful of employees. Education and information about best practices from trusted names like HITRUST and the AMA will help to clear out some of the noise in the industry so that small practices can focus on actions they should take to promote good cyber hygiene in ways that work for them.”