October is national Cybersecurity Awareness Month. Cybercrimes are a constant threat, and health systems are among the most frequently targeted entities. To keep our health system and our patients safe, we’ll be sharing information on some of the most relevant cybersecurity topics each week in October. Social engineering is the art of manipulating people so they give up confidential information – usually passwords, bank information or access to your computer. Criminals use social engineering tactics because it is often easier to exploit our natural inclination to trust than it is to discover ways to hack into software. What does a social engineering attack look like? Social engineering tactics are grounded in the science of human motivation. One of the subsets of social engineering strategies is pretext: using a compelling story or a reasonable-sounding request to target people’s emotions and get them to act without thinking too carefully. Below are examples of pretext that can lay…

October is national Cybersecurity Awareness Month. Cybercrimes are a constant threat, and health systems are among the most frequently targeted entities. To keep our health system and our patients safe, we’ll be sharing information on some of the most relevant cybersecurity topics each week in October. As a health system, we must have adequate levels of protection for the sensitive data we manage to protect both ourselves and the patients we care for. Cyberattacks not only disrupt healthcare providers, they also disrupt patient care. Hypothetically, if a Ballad Health provider was phished and had their credentials stolen, a hacker could use that information to log into Epic and access patient information to sell on the black market. Even more dangerous, a hacker using those credentials could potentially change a patient’s medication or procedure or discharge the patient prematurely. According to a research study published in September 2021 by the Ponemon Institute, approximately 43% of the…

October is national Cybersecurity Awareness Month! Cybercrimes are a constant threat, and health systems are among the most frequently targeted entities. To keep our health system and our patients safe, we’ll be sharing information on some of the most relevant cybersecurity topics every week in October. Check back here soon for more great information. Passphrases One of the easiest ways to make your accounts more secure is to use a “passphrase” instead of a password. A passphrase is a series of words with spaces between, like “Tuesdays are usually rainy” or “pleasant autumn arbor walk.” Passphrases are much harder to guess and hack than passwords, and they have the added bonus of being much easier to remember. Creating a great passphrase Here are some tips for creating a top passphrase: Longer = more secure. Your Ballad Health passphrase must be at least 8 characters, but 10-16 is better, and you can go even longer than…

This message from Ballad Health’s IT security team originated from the American Society of Health Care Engineering (ASHE), a professional membership group of the American Hospital Association (AHA). The AHA has become aware of an ongoing cyber incident which may involve ASHE and AHA members and customers receiving fraudulent emails. These fraudulent emails may instruct recipients to make changes to the payment destination for pending payments to the AHA. Please do not act upon or reply to these emails (or other emails that are suspicious or unusual). If you or someone in your organization received any such email recently to change payment instructions related to the AHA and changed your AHA payment destination based upon an email, we recommend the following steps (see below). In addition, consult with your counsel and your other cyber incident professionals. Notify your financial institution immediately and ask that the payment be stopped or recalled. If notification is made to…

Hello World, Ballad Health’s new two-way texting system, is now live! This system allows you to more easily manage your own healthcare and saves time for patients and clinics alike. How does it work? As a patient, once you’ve opted in to the new Hello World notification system, you will receive text notifications from Ballad Health about appointments and bill pay. The “two-way” aspect of this platform means you can easily respond to these messages with simple prompts, allowing you to confirm or cancel appointments or pay bills, with additional features planned for the future. Once opted in, you can easily opt out at any time. Sign me up! Signing up is fast and easy. There are three ways you can opt in for notifications: Text JOIN to 47649. Log in to MyChart and set up customized notifications in your Communication Preferences. Ask a front desk team member to turn them on for you. This…

Ballad Health will soon be introducing a new two-way text notification system for patients called “Hello World,” available through Epic, that will allow them to more easily manage their own healthcare. This system will also save time for both clinics and patients. We are targeting Monday, Aug. 28, to bring this functionality live. This date may flex slightly due to approval required from the three major carriers. How does it work? As a patient, once you’ve opted in to the new Hello World notification system, you will receive text notifications about appointments and bill pay. The “two-way” aspect of this platform means you can easily respond to these messages with simple prompts, allowing you to confirm or cancel appointments or pay bills, with additional features planned for the future. Once opted in, you can easily opt out at any time. Resources and info We’ve got more information about this project on the Ballad Health intranet on…

Ballad Health is upgrading to Epic Hyperdrive, a new platform for accessing Epic Hyperspace, effective Tuesday, Aug. 8. After this change, team members will no longer use Hyperspace as a login option. The transition will require about a two-hour downtime, from midnight to 2 a.m. on Tuesday. Please follow downtime procedures during this time. IT will send out a notice when the transition is complete. Click here to visit the Epic Hyperdrive site on the ShareIT site of the intranet. Why are we upgrading? This change will benefit our patients and our dedicated frontline team members, and it is a necessary step as we stay up-to-date with the latest Epic upgrades for security purposes. Clinicians will notice some minor differences in the interface and where information is located, but the overall user experience will be familiar. Epic Hyperdrive will provide a more user-friendly interface for the Epic menu, improving workflows for various activities and tools….

We are now live systemwide with the new Infor CloudSuite system, ending our weeklong downtime! The go-live began at about 8 a.m. Tuesday, June 27. Infor CloudSuite replaces the Infor Lawson system we had used since Ballad Health formed. NOTE: The Axiom conversion was completed on Thursday, June 29, at 8 a.m., allowing users to resume doing their normal tasks in Axiom. We’re excited to finally be able to offer this improved site experience for our team members, and we’re confident you will enjoy its new features and improved layout. If you have issues with your work duties involving Infor CloudSuite, consult your manager or contact the IT Service Desk at 423-431-6290. There are IT support teams ready to assist. Some of your questions might also be answered on the FAQs page, located on our Infor CloudSuite site on ShareIT. So what is Infor CloudSuite? This internal platform is used by team members and contractors…

As you may know by now, the new Infor CloudSuite system goes live on the morning of Tuesday, June 27. This upgrade is going to bring a lot of enhancements when using our HR & Payroll Service Center, including improvements to layout, automation and security. Be aware that, as part of the steps taken to improve security around team member accounts, we will now be using a multi-factor authentication (MFA) app for all team member logins to Infor CloudSuite from personal devices. While team members are not required to install the multi-factor authenticator on their personal devices, anyone without MFA will not be able to access the HR & Payroll Service Center from his/her personal device. See a tip sheet on the Ballad Health intranet about how to install MFA on your phone. Once Infor CloudSuite is live on Tuesday, June 27, team members can still access all CloudSuite functions through Ballad Health devices –…

Ballad Health is transitioning from the Infor Lawson system to the new Infor CloudSuite system. This is the platform we use for a wide range of internal tasks, including access to pay history, tax documents, benefits, direct deposit, expense and mileage reimbursement forms, supply orders and much more. Go-live is taking place this month. We will experience a downtime when some functions are not available. Please see the IT Advisory and the email message sent to all Ballad Health team members containing more details about the upgrade and the downtime. For most team members, once the system is back up, the changes from Lawson to Infor CloudSuite will be noticeable but minor, and it should make many of your basic tasks easier to complete. Managers will see bigger changes than others in how they do many of their tasks, but the system will be much easier for them to use going forward and will be…

Ballad Health is upgrading to Epic Hyperdrive, a new platform for accessing Epic Hyperspace. We have prepared for this transition with our last couple Epic upgrades. This change will benefit our patients and our dedicated frontline team members, and it is a necessary step as we stay up-to-date with the latest Epic upgrades for security purposes. The rollout of Hyperdrive will occur in three phases, with the first phase being a small pilot project this month involving select users at Franklin Woods Community Hospital and a few clinics. Then a wider – but still limited – rollout will occur in July, followed by the systemwide go-live taking place in August. Watch for more communications as we get closer to go-live. NOTE: If you’re part of the pilot community for Phases 1 or 2, more information can be found on the ShareIT site on the Ballad Health intranet here. You can also access it by going…