27 Jun 2016 Lea publishes eBook

Ancil Lea, former executive director of the Regional Extension Center for the state of Arkansas, recently released his new eBook, “CYBER WAR: Securing Patient Health Information in Today’s Electronic Environment.”

The book was released at the ‘AMDPA Scientific Session medical conference in Hot Springs, where he was a guest speaker. The eBook is part of a larger work of the same title which will be released later this year.

The eBook helps medical providers by guiding them in assessing security risks in relationship to Patient Health Information (PHI). The eBook provides medical practitioners and their staff with a “security checklist” and a sample press release in the event of a security breach.

“As director, I became concerned about a couple of areas with medical providers in the electronic healthcare revolution, specifically, two areas: provider communication/texting and messaging, and the electronification of the paper chart. What I feared would come to pass is happening with systems being breached and patient data being potentially exposed. Clinics with less than 10 medical providers are now being hacked and held for ransom, even here in Arkansas. There is a great responsibility of protecting patient information, not to mention the HIPAA fines incurred by a clinic when found not to be in compliance,” Lea said.

Lea has worked with more than 2,000 medical providers, clinics, and hospitals over his 27-year career. He has assisted with everything from medical software selection and implementation to marketing and communications. “Providers need to take measures now to protect this information and the relationships that could be affected by a breach.”             

To download the eBook, visit cyberwar-ebook.com. For more information about Ancil Lea and/or the services of Ancil Lea Consulting, please visit ancillea.com.