Category: Articles

Data Breach – U.S. Bans Antivirus Software

June 26, 2024

Data Breach – U.S. Bans Antivirus Software

Financial Business and Consumer Solutions (FBCS), a debt collection enterprise, has been impacted by a massive data breach that affects millions of Americans. FBCS is a debt collection agency that specializes in recovering charged-off consumer and commercial debts, such as car loans, healthcare bills, utility bills, student loans, and credit cards.

The initial tally of those affected from this cyber incident was around 1.9 million, which the company raised to 3 million in June 2024. The data breach leaked a treasure trove of consumer data, including full name, Social Security Number (SSN), date of birth, and driver’s license number or ID card. The company has informed affected individuals as well as concerned authorities.

If your organization transfers collection accounts to this or any other agency, the collection agency becomes a business associate according to HIPAA.

Read more about the cyber incident on the FBCS website.

Detecting Financial Exploitation of the Elderly & Compliance

June 17, 2024

Detecting Financial Exploitation of the Elderly & Compliance

Criminals are getting smarter every day and using advanced technology, such as Artificial Intelligence to scam the elderly. Loneliness also creates situations for vulnerable adults leading to romance scams.

The federal government, states, commonwealths, territories and the District of Columbia all have laws designed to protect older adults from elder abuse and guide the practice of adult protective services agencies, law enforcement agencies, and others. Basic definitions associated with elder abuse are provided as well as a link to the DOJ State Elder Abuse Statutes.

This new article also reviews government agency oversight and the Transnational Elder Fraud Strike Force, various forms of scams and how to report financial fraud other elderly to the Elder Fraud Hotline and the FBI.

Click Here to read this and other articles related to Elder Abuse

Detecting Abuse of the Elderly

June 17, 2024

Detecting Abuse of the Elderly

Duty of care is a requirement that a person act toward others and the public with the watchfulness, attention, caution and prudence that a reasonable person in the circumstances would use.

If a person’s actions do not meet this standard of care, then the acts are considered negligent and any damages resulting may be claimed in a lawsuit for negligence.

Information in this article can be useful when completing a Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) risk assessment and any time a health care professional determines it is necessary to gain a deeper understanding of presenting problems which are warning signs of:

  • Elder physical abuse
  • Elder sexual abuse
  • Elder psychological abuse
  • Elder abandonment
  • Elder neglect and financial exploitation

Read Article

Caring, Awareness & Resources for Our Elders

June 13, 2024

Caring, Awareness & Resources for Our Elders

June is Elder Abuse Awareness Month and Saturday, June 15, 2024 is World Elder Abuse Awareness Day.

According to the Office of Inspector General (OIC), they continue to protect the health and wellbeing of those in long-term care as an oversight agency.

Learn more:

Article: A Disconnect Between Health Care Leaders and Workers

May 24, 2024

Article: A Disconnect Between Health Care Leaders and Workers

A recent survey suggests many workers do not intend to leave health care entirely, but rather break ties from individual employers due to job dissatisfaction.

The survey also cites a gap in perception between what workers find important and what management think they find important.

Additionally,  NRHA Partner Relias discussed how rural health care organizations can leverage a changing nursing workforce.

Read: Becker’s Hospital Review: A disconnect between healthcare leaders

Read: NRHA: Nursing shortage solutions are happening because they must

Why are Rural Americans – Especially Women- Dying Younger?

April 25, 2024

Why are Rural Americans – Especially Women- Dying Younger?

Rural Americans aged 25 to 54 are dying of natural causes such as chronic diseases and cancer at wildly higher rates than their urban peers, according to a recent report.

The disparity was significantly worse for women, and for Native American women in particular.

The gap highlights how persistent difficulties accessing health care and a dispassionate response from national leaders can eat away at the fabric of rural communities.

The National Rural Health Association’s (NRHA’s) Government Affairs team has produced policy briefs on rural women’s health and American Indian and Alaska Native health.

Read Rural Women’s Health policy brief

Read American Indian and Alaska Native Health policy brief

 

Health Care for Youth with Neurodevelopmental Disabilities: A Consensus Statement

April 25, 2024

Health Care for Youth with Neurodevelopmental Disabilities: A Consensus Statement

People with neurodevelopmental disabilities (NDD) often face difficulties in getting proper health care and services and may not have good experiences with these systems. They may be more likely to have adverse events during their care such as seclusion, accidents and injuries.

Supporting Access for Everyone (SAFE) Initiative was created to address these challenges and aims to improve the quality of health care for young people with NDDs by establishing a standard of practice.

Click Here to Learn More

Could Rural Fire Departments Bridge the Telehealth Gap?

April 2, 2024

Could Rural Fire Departments Bridge the Telehealth Gap?

As part of Washington State University’s Rural Health Initiative, pharmacy student Amanda Whitehead is exploring the feasibility of setting up telehealth stations in rural fire stations to help bring many health care services closer to rural residents.

Additionally, using telehealth to provide palliative care support to rural family caregivers is a low-cost, feasible strategy for transitioning patients from hospital to home-based care, new research reveals.

Read Full Article

Rural Residents Have Less Access to Special Needs Care

March 11, 2024

Rural Residents Have Less Access to Special Needs Care

According to the National Rural Health Association (NRHA), the patient-to-primary-care-physician ratio is about 39 physicians for every 100,000 people.

In many rural areas, this can create crucial gaps in care for children with special needs, whose families often struggle with transportation and accessibility of services.

Additionally, Rural Health Research Gateway offers a new recap on post-acute care in rural areas.

Read Crucial Gaps in Care Article

Read Recap on Post-acute care

Newest AIHC Compliance Articles

March 11, 2024

Newest AIHC Compliance Articles

The American Institute of Healthcare Compliance released three articles on compliance.