Here we are in 2019 and cyber security attacks are at an all-time-high. While security and protections are getting better, hackers are only getting smarter and more creative—proving that no matter how protected we think our cyber lives are, we are wrong.

This does NOT mean that we are all doomed. It means more precautions must be taken and our knowledge must grow in how we can better protect ourselves and our clients.

In 2018, the health records of over 9 million Americans were stolen by cyber criminals. 9 million (US Health and Human Services).

“The data collected includes breaches from hospitals, health insurers and other health organizations covered by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, which makes breaches public when they affect more than 500 people.”

Why does Texas have a red card? Because since 2014, over 1.4 million Texans have had their health records stolen and has “led the country in total hacking breaches reported to HIPAA for four of the past five years.” While one could argue, Texas is a large state and therefore bound to have more people hindered based on the population, the stats speak for itself. Texas has had over 1.4 million health records stolen. (“The statistics are indicative of the large population of patients Texas serves and the corresponding number of providers.”- Lance Lunsford, President of Communications with the Texas Hospital Association).

To learn more about these breaches and how they affect Texas, visit:

https://www.tpr.org/post/texas-attracts-most-healthcare-data-hacks-it-fighting-back

In keeping up with these trends and understanding what issues are affecting our healthcare subscribers, THIE is ready to offer a range of products to protect your business on all fronts.

THIE is here to help healthcare facilities in Texas and Oklahoma to protect themselves in many areas especially when it comes to these attacks.

Cyber Liability Coverage: THIE has partnered with NAS Insurance Services to provide health care facilities with cyber liability insurance products designed for the unique privacy-related exposures they face.

Through THIE and NAS, your facility can be protected from network hacking, cyber extortion and other privacy breaches with affordable policies that cover regulatory defense of claims, lost profits due to negative publicity and more.

Contact THIE to learn more about protecting your facility from cybercrimes—we can assess risk and work with you to ensure the right coverage is provided for your hospital.

While nurses should be celebrated year-round—y’all are the foundation of services provided to patients—we celebrate you this week, May 6^th– 12^th!

In honor of National Nurses Week (May 6^th-12^th), THIE is holding an event to show our appreciation–

We are giving away a $1000 gift certificate to Shoes for Crews for a nurse and their crew! We need your help to spread the word and encourage participation from your staff.

During the week of May 6^th-12^th we ask that you post the attached flyer in your staff rooms and share
the game with your team via email.

Nurses and staff should follow THIE on Facebook (@TexasHospitalInsuranceExchange) — we will monitor our new followers and at the end of the week, enter names into a pool and draw a winner!

This means one nurse from your facility could be chosen and win a Shoes for Crews gift card for your nursing staff!

Good Luck! We will circulate this email to you, twice more as a reminder to encourage participation!

Rankin County Hospital District goes the distance in serving its community. Its Wellness Center provides services to friends and family of the hospital district.

According to Bree Lance, Wellness Center Director, the program has been a tremendous success in the district; with some member traveling 30-40 miles to attend classes and receive services. Because of fantastic prices and their ability to continually meet the demand of services for all types of people (more equipment, classes, and education about fitness and nutrition), membership has been increasing at an impressive rate.

October 2017 saw 156 members; fast-forward one year to October 2018 and the Wellness Center was providing services to 366 members (an increase of 210 people)! By March of this year, membership has surpassed 453 people. This growth is beyond impressive—it shows that the services the Wellness Center provides are successful, highly sought after, and making a difference in the lives of the people in Rankin County.

Where the Wellness Center thrives is through its range of services and offers:

• Family plans at a discounted rate so the whole family can participate
• Yoga and HIIT classes that are included in the membership
• Summer Camp for kidsFitness training for all—whether you’re a student looking to prepare for sports season, older individuals looking to build strength and maintain mobility or training for those looking to stay toned and motivated

What a tremendous success by Rankin County! Keep up the great work!

Wise Health System has recently embarked on an organizational effort that sets a standard for organizational excellence by doing all things in their facilities, the “WISE Way”.

The organization’s principals and core values can be seen on signage placed throughout all of their facilities and are represented by the acronym “WISE” that stands for:

W	Be With
I	Be Innovative
S	Be Safe
E	Be Excellent

Each of these has associated core values that include: Compassion, trust and respect, satisfaction, innovation, ethics, quality, integrity, customer service, transparency, confidence and excellence.

“It is our shared passion and vision as a health care facility that every department and every employee make choices to promote excellence because every action, no matter how small can have a very significant impact on the experience of our patients, guests and visitors.”

When I began work with the Texas Hospital Insurance Exchange, I understood that they insured hospitals and health care facilities. I learned that for 40 years they had a strong focus in the rural market.

Let’s stop there. Insurance just for rural health care facilities? Why so specialized and focused? What niche` did we (THIE) have that larger companies don’t? I never knew that such a specialized need existed.

Fast-forward nine months. I’m still learning, but it sure makes a world of sense now! As THIE is beginning to branch out beyond Texas and is spreading its limbs beyond just rural hospitals and into health care facilities as a whole, their roots in insuring rural hospitals still ring true and make THIE the best at what they do.

THIE goes beyond just insurance. We have created a community with our subscribers. Rural health care can be tough; facilities can be small and financial stability can be threatening especially due to Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements. But we do things to help.

First, our subscribers own us; we are a reciprocal exchange. When THIE profits, we distribute the surplus back to our subscribers. Should rates rise, this helps our insureds maintain stable insurance costs and lets them focus their energy on their patients and less on rising costs.

Second, we train! We interact incredibly close with our hospitals. We come in and do full training’s on Risk Management and more, ensuring our health care facilities function as safely as possible and therefore resulting in less claims.

Third, we train even more! THIE offers educational forums over the year and travel to different areas of Texas. We train on new trends, new legislation, how to be prepared in case of a disaster, how cyber liability can hinder your facility and other topics that effect our facilities.

THIE cares. We believe in the mission of rural. We support our people and consistently grow and stay ahead of insurance trends to guarantee we are always offering our subscribers the best products and services. In doing so, we also keep up with legislation and do our part in stepping in and being an additional voice on the importance of rural.

Recently, I truly learned what that importance is. THIE Board Member Adam Willmann, President and CEO of Goodall-Witcher Hospital Authority, worked tirelessly leading up to elections in his area. He saw an opportunity and a need to create a Hospital District in Bosque County. By doing this, it would ensure the future of Goodall-Witcher Hospital and ensure its doors would not close to residents of the area. Should this hospital close, residents would have to travel an upwards of 55 miles to get to the closest city to receive medical care.

As someone who lives in a city surrounded by hospitals and thousands of health care specialists, I could not fathom having to travel far to receive care. This is rural. This is the importance of rural health care throughout the country.

To be part of a team that cares about its hospitals and that specializes in such a niche` of insurance—doing what we can to help and support these health care facilities is amazing to witness.