Press Releases

New HITECH Hotline Eases Burden of Data Breach Notification for Healthcare

Nashville, TN - June 30, 2010

Healthcare facilities face an increasingly complex landscape of breach notification requirements for protected health information (PHI). The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act ups the ante, pressing entities to notify within 60 days of discovery. Kroll’s expanded data breach solutions lend necessary expertise and allow the facility to maintain focus on care continuum. 

Today, Kroll Fraud Solutions, a leading provider of data protection and identity theft response services, launched a new HITECH Hotline to help ease the burden of data breach notification for healthcare organizations nationwide. 

Currently, under HITECH if there are 10 or more affected individuals for whom the breached organization has insufficient or out-of-date contact information, the organization must provide substitute notification – either on the homepage of the organization’s website or in a major print or broadcast media -- for a period of 90 days.    That posting must include a toll-free telephone number, active for at least 90 days, where individuals can learn whether their unsecured PHI was included in the breach. The knowledgeable call center operations provided via the HITECH Hotline not only aids Kroll’s healthcare clients with meeting necessary compliance requirements, but it also provides an extra layer of service to the patient/consumer population who are key to the facility’s brand and reputation long-term.

“Expecting a hospital to work its way through data breach management, and also to set-up and staff a toll-free telephone line for at least 3 months, can really prevent that facility’s return to normal – caring for patients and their families,” says Brian Lapidus, chief operating officer for Kroll Fraud Solutions, “Consistent, compliant communication of data breach events is Kroll’s sweet spot.  So we’ve enhanced our Data Breach Services suite to provide clients with the additional resources they need.”

Kroll’s data breach incident management services for healthcare clients will now offer:

·         A dedicated, toll-free telephone number that Kroll sets-up and staffs for that client

o   Stays active for the minimum 90-day period

o   Can be kept active for up to 1 year if the client prefers

·         Call center staffed with Kroll-vetted, experienced call representatives

o   Multilingual capabilities

o   Full-time employees with data-breach-call-management expertise, based in North America

o   Assess caller’s status as an affected member of breach population or not, provide help regardless

o   Supply breached facility with report so client may determine appropriate next steps

·         Assistance with any required public notification, including

o    guidance and assistance in drafting and posting the compliant notification, whether via broadcast media or web, and

o    translation into multiple languages.

“This level of emphatic, experienced customer service just isn’t an option anymore; people expect to be well cared for when a data breach is announced,” Lapidus concluded. “When our client’s team is able to do their primary job with minimal disruption while responding to and recovering from a data breach, it means we’re doing our job well.”

For more information on the HITECH Hotline, including an informational podcast detailing important Hotline features,  visit: http://www.krollfraudsolutions.com/Resources/Digital-Media-and-Tools/Podcasts/HITECH-Hotline.aspx.

About Kroll

Kroll, the world's leading risk consulting company, provides a broad range of investigative, intelligence, financial, security and technology services to help clients reduce risks, solve problems and capitalize on opportunities. Kroll Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE: MMC), the global professional services firm.  Kroll began providing identity theft solutions in 1999 and created its Fraud Solutions practice in 2002 in response to increasing requests from clients for counsel and services associated with the loss of sensitive personal information, and related identity protection and restoration issues facing organizations and individuals. 

Since then, Kroll’s Fraud Solutions clients have included Fortune 500 companies, non-profit organizations, and government entities dealing with healthcare, financial services, insurance, consumer service, and any activity involving the collection and use of personal information. Kroll’s Fraud Solutions team presently serves over 10,000 businesses and millions of individual consumers.  For more information, visit: www.krollfraudsolutions.com.  For expert commentary on the latest data security and identity theft issues, visit the Kroll Fraud Solutions blog “A Dialogue on Data Security” at www.krollfraudsolutionsblog.com. 

Media Contact:

Emilie Moghadam

(202) 857-2212

emilie.moghadam@fleishman.com