Ishee Quoted in ACP Hospitalist Story Titled “Resisting Ransomware”

Jonathan Ishee, a partner in the health care group in the Houston office, was quoted in a Hospitalist story titled “Resisting Ransomware.”  The Hospitalist is a publication of the American College of Physicians.   The story was about how hackers have begun to target health care data.  According to the story, to seize control of a hospital's system, hackers use a form of malware called ransomware, with which they encrypt and block access to computer files. They then send their victims a digital ransom note, which typically asks for a tidy sum in exchange for a key that will supposedly decrypt the data.

The story states:

“In the event of a security breach, an EHR vendor's role is not entirely clear. This is particularly due to the ‘hold harmless’ clause in many EHR contracts, which is designed to protect the vendor from liability in case something goes wrong with the product. Whether the clause is enforceable or not depends on the facts and circumstances of the individual case, as well as the jurisdiction where the legal dispute is brought, so ‘It's hard to say what the ultimate outcome would be,’ said Jonathan Ishee, JD, a practicing attorney and assistant professor at the UTHealth School of Biomedical Informatics.”

To read the entire story, visit the ACP website.