Kroll Fraud Solutions, a provider of data protection and identity theft response services, has launched a new HITECH Hotline to help ease the burden of data breach notification for healthcare organizations nationwide.
Under the HITECH (Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health) Act, if there are 10 or more affected individuals for whom the breached organization has insufficient or out-of-date contact information, the organization must provide substitute notification – either on the homepage of the organization's Web site or in a major print or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 protected health information was included in the breach.
The call center operations provided via the HITECH Hotline not only aid Kroll's healthcare clients with meeting necessary compliance requirements, but also provide 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 three 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 and a call center staffed with Kroll-vetted, experienced call representatives, says Lapidus.
