{"id":2778,"date":"2023-09-01T15:00:18","date_gmt":"2023-09-01T15:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kleetos.com\/?p=2778"},"modified":"2025-07-07T07:39:07","modified_gmt":"2025-07-07T07:39:07","slug":"clinics-are-shutting-down-rather-than-deal-with-the-fallout-of-a-ransomware-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brightsquid.com\/us\/clinics-are-shutting-down-rather-than-deal-with-the-fallout-of-a-ransomware-attack\/","title":{"rendered":"Clinics are shutting down rather than deal with the fallout of a ransomware attack"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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In August of 2019, the\u00a0Battle Creek Enquirer reported<\/a>\u00a0that a local medical clinic opted to close permanently instead of paying $6,500 to regain access to their patient records. There\u2019s much more to recovering from a ransomware attack than the ransom. This clinic was clearly overwhelmed by the prospect of dealing with fines and the cost of notifying all patients their information had fallen into the wrong hands.\u00a0<\/p>

There\u2019s no escape from privacy regulations.<\/b><\/p>

The article does not go into detail about how regulators handled the ransomware breach under HIPAA. Clearly it\u2019s not possible to shirk responsibility completely. And the drastic option of closing your clinic when ransomware gets in is not one many would consider.\u00a0<\/p>

Beyond legal obligations, clinics have an ethical responsibility to protect patient information. In the USA under HIPAA, covered entities must notify patients after their PHI has been exposed or stolen. Suffering a breach like this is detrimental to a practice or practitioner\u2019s reputation.<\/p>

According to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta (CPSA), \u201cA regulated member who closes or leaves a medical practice is responsible for the secure storage and disposition of the patient records from that medical practice.\u201d So simply shutting down a medical practice in the province doesn\u2019t cut it. A custodian, or regulated member, is responsible for the records they collected.<\/p>

Avoid ransomware infections with proper privacy compliance, security, and training.<\/b><\/p>

According to the\u00a02019 HIMSS Cybersecurity Survey,<\/a>\u00a0\u201cE-mail is the most common initial point of compromise for significant security incidents\u201d. So any complete security and privacy compliance plan should limit the use of email and train staff on how to recognize inbound attacks.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In August of 2019, the\u00a0Battle Creek Enquirer reported\u00a0that a local medical clinic opted to close permanently instead of paying $6,500 to regain […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3062,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-brightsquid-blog"],"yoast_head":"\nRansomware Forces Clinics Shut | Brightsquid Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Reports indicate clinics are choosing to shut down instead of dealing with the fallout of a ransomware attack.Secure-Mail prevents ransomware.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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