While cybersecurity for aging-services organizations is critical, your residents are also vulnerable to cybertheft. A new campaign, “THINK BEFORE YOU CLICK,” gives older adults a checklist to help safeguard their health information. Organizations can customize the campaign materials with their own logo.

As patients increasingly permit access to their health information by way of third-party apps, the need to ensure data privacy and security has grown exponentially. Many of these apps are not covered entities under HIPAA and are not bound by any current privacy and security requirements.

The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME), a fellow Member Organization of the LTPAC Health IT Collaborative co-founded by LeadingAge and CAST, and the Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI) launched the campaign. The two organizations fully support a system where data flows seamlessly to improve access and achieve better health outcomes, but they recognize consumers need to understand how to mitigate their risk, they said in a statement.

The campaign includes a five-step checklist so that older adults can take precautions before giving health information to third-party apps. The checklist is non-branded and is free to any organization seeking to educate and protect those they serve.

Please customize and share this campaign with your residents, and encourage them to share it with other consumers.

LeadingAge CAST Cybersecurity Resources

Cyberattacks on healthcare organizations continue, and enterprise-wide cybersecurity remains a top priority. For the latest on mitigating threats to senior living organizations, please see “New Research Names Top Cybersecurity Threats” in this month’s Tech Time.

Be sure to access the LeadingAge CAST Cybersecurity Resources to learn how to recognize threats, and mitigate risk, and respond in case of attack. A white paper, case studies, and a benchmarking questionnaire are included in this thorough portfolio.

You are also encouraged to review the CAST resource “Opportunities, and Risks, with New Smart Voice Technology in Senior Living” and the CAST case study, “Managing HIPAA Compliance and Cyber Security Through Partnership.” The summary and full case study show how LeadingAge CAST Bronze Partner with CAST Focus BlueOrange Compliance helped to manage a community’s HIPAA compliance and cybersecurity mitigation.