“As the Defense Department continues to provide medical personnel, resources and services to the nation in its aid to the COVID-19 response, the DOD Office of Inspector General stressed that the military must continue to protect patient health information.”
“The office released a special report on April 23 that reviews lessons learned and best practices from previous OIG and Government Accountability Office reports to best protect ‘protected health information’ (PHI) — a subset of personally identifiable information — from inadvertent disclosure and unauthorized access as Military Treatment Facilities ramp up national medical aid amid the pandemic.”
“’Because MTFs use different methods to collect patient data, such as in‑person and virtual triage, continuing to exercise due diligence to protect patient data is needed now more than ever with the increased patient loads at MTFs and alternative care facilities the DOD is helping to build and operate,’ OIG said.”
“The special report draws from GAO and DOD OIG assessments of protected health information cybersecurity from the past three years to make eight best-practice recommendations to defense health providers and cyber officials. These are to…” Read the full article here.
Source: DOD Shares Best Practices to Secure Patient Health Information – By Melissa Harris, April 27, 2020. GovernmentCIO.
