The latest LeadingAge CAST case study urges aging services providers to prioritize risk remediation even in the face of day-to-day demands.

“Managing HIPAA Compliance and Cyber Security Through Partnership” explains how Waverly Heights, a life plan community in Gladwyne, PA, partners with BlueOrange Compliance, a LeadingAge Bronze Partner with CAST Focus, to address cybersecurity risks.

In the case study, Bob Supper, the senior vice president and CFO of Waverly Heights, emphasized the importance of IT security and HIPAA compliance. “Partnering with a security company can help you address both existing risks as well as newly emerging ones,” he is quoted as saying. “To those who claim they cannot afford this valuable assistance, we would claim you simply can’t afford not to do this, because the financial and public relations consequences could be catastrophic.” 

Having an ongoing strategic risk mitigation plan is the partnership’s most significant outcome, Supper noted in the case study.

The two organizations began their partnership in 2015. BlueOrange Compliance provides annual assessments for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability (HIPAA) and Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act security risks with ongoing managed services. BlueOrange Compliance also provides HIPAA privacy and breach support, penetration testing, and phishing campaigns. 

The annual risk assessment checks for physical or process deficiencies that open the organization to risk, especially in the areas of cyber vulnerabilities and electronic medical records use, practices, and oversight.

BlueOrange Compliance follows up with recommendations and an action plan with priorities. The priority ratings are tracked from year to year to show progress. BlueOrange Compliance also helps Waverly develop and implement a remediation plan. Read the full case study for details.

CAST Cybersecurity Resources

As cybersecurity threats continue to be a concern, please use the CAST Cybersecurity Resources to understand those threats, learn how to mitigate them, and plan how to respond if attacked.

The resources include a cybersecurity white paper, case studies, and a benchmarking questionnaire that will help aging services providers identify risks and plug vulnerabilities.

If you are working with voice technologies, please also check out “Opportunities, and Risks, with New Smart Voice Technology in Senior Living.”

Join our Virtual Summit June 8-10, 2021

For more invaluable learnings from LeadingAge CAST, register for the Collaborative Care & Health IT Innovations Summit, taking place virtually June 8-10, 2021.

LeadingAge CAST convenes the summit to address how technology is connecting the health care ecosystem in the era of health and payment reforms. Sessions and keynotes will address innovative care delivery and payment models enabled by technology, including the broader health IT, interoperability, and health information exchange modalities. 

Register today!