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Biden admin officers take into account discouraging US firms from increasing enterprise ties with Saudi Arabia

WASHINGTON — Biden administration officers are contemplating attempting to discourage American firms from increasing enterprise ties with Saudi Arabia as a part of a US response to a latest Saudi-led push by oil-producing international locations to chop world manufacturing, mentioned three present and former US officers conversant in the discussions.

The administration additionally is not going to ship any US official to Saudi Arabia’s annual Future Funding Initiative convention in Riyadh subsequent week, officers mentioned, though a senior administration official mentioned the willpower was made earlier than the OPEC+ alliance introduced Oct. 5 that it might lower oil manufacturing by 2 million barrels a day. The official mentioned the administration was unable to make scheduling work to ship a US authorities official to the high-profile convention, generally known as “Davos within the desert,” which has been a prized occasion for Saudi Arabia’s de facto chief, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Biden admin officers take into account discouraging US firms from increasing enterprise ties with Saudi Arabia

Exploring methods to make use of American companies as leverage towards Saudi Arabia comes as President Joe Biden says he is re-evaluating his administration’s relationship with the dominion and contemplating tips on how to retaliate towards Riyadh over the oil manufacturing determination. The present and former US officers mentioned no selections have been made about whether or not to proceed with such an effort. They mentioned it is simply one of many choices into consideration as Biden considers tips on how to stability responding with not undermining some core US aims within the Center East, specifically uniting Israel and its Arab neighbors towards Iran.

The considering behind a transfer to drag again American enterprise funding in Saudi Arabia is that it might affect the dominion with out straight affecting US safety within the area, however it additionally would include a danger that US companies will not pay attention.

As of now, American firms are set to look in full drive at subsequent week’s Future Funding Initiative convention, which has drawn enterprise executives, buyers and authorities officers. The occasion has been a platform for the crown prince, also referred to as MBS, to showcase enterprise alternatives within the kingdom.

Officers acknowledged that it’s too late to have an effect on the turnout of American enterprise executives at this 12 months’s convention, which begins Oct. 25 in Riyadh, even when the administration wished to take action. The theme of this 12 months’s convention is “Investing in Humanity: Enabling a New International Order.”

The Biden administration had already downgraded US participation within the convention from the Trump administration’s degree of engagement. The Trump administration despatched the treasury secretary to the convention, whereas final 12 months the Biden administration despatched Deputy Commerce Secretary Don Graves. The Commerce Division confirmed he is not going to attend this 12 months.

Adrienne Watson, the spokesperson for the White Home Nationwide Safety Council, mentioned the administration has not reached out to American firms to discourage them from doing enterprise in Saudi Arabia.

“We’re not reaching out to firms to make such requests,” Watson mentioned in a press release. “As they do in each a part of the world, American firms will make their very own selections about their presence and the place to take a position, considering a spread of things, together with authorized constraints, the enterprise surroundings and reputational considerations that may come up from public coverage decisions made by host international locations.”

Along with contemplating attempting to squeeze the Saudis within the enterprise world, a senior administration official mentioned the Biden administration plans to right away dial again diplomatic and navy engagements with Riyadh, describing a cooling of relations that will doubtless final till OPEC+ management holds its subsequent official assembly on Dec. 4, the thirty fourth OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Assembly.

The result of the December assembly will probably be pivotal to the way forward for the connection between the US and Saudi Arabia, the official mentioned. The assembly conventions the day earlier than a European Union sanctions bundle towards Russia takes impact. The bundle will embrace a partial embargo on Russian oil and a ban on importing Russian crude oil from the ocean. The sanctions will restrict EU international locations from reselling Russian crude oil and petroleum merchandise.

“That is going to be a key take a look at, that OPEC assembly,” the senior administration official mentioned. “EU sanctions will probably be going into impact, and a pair million barrels [of Russian oil] will probably be gone. Does OPEC do nothing then?”

‘Underneath stress’

Biden is below stress from Congress to take dramatic steps, corresponding to chopping off arms gross sales to the dominion, and White Home officers are livid with Riyadh that after heavy US lobbying to not lower oil manufacturing, OPEC+ moved ahead with a good bigger lower than anticipated . US officers have mentioned the choice will drive up gasoline costs and supply an financial lifeline to Russia — a serious oil exporter — because it continues its brutal conflict in Ukraine. Officers even have accused the crown prince of arm-twisting different members of the OPEC+ alliance into the choice.

Saudi Arabia has mentioned the choice does neither of these issues, and it has harassed that it was made collectively by a bunch of nations.

US officers, together with the president, have promised a response to Riyadh, however thus far none has been carried out, and officers have mentioned selections could be made in session with Congress, which does not return to Washington till after November’s midterm elections.

“The Biden administration appears to be scrambling a bit to search out sensible measures that might again up the rhetoric from President Biden that there will probably be penalties,” mentioned Brian Katulis, the vice chairman of coverage on the Center East Institute.

“One area the place Saudi leaders are very taken with constructing stronger ties with the US is within the financial realm and specifically private-sector engagement,” Katulis mentioned. “Saudi leaders are eager to have American companies and buyers come to their nation and make large investments to assist them advance the aim of diversifying its economic system.”

International funding in Saudi Arabia is a core a part of the crown prince’s plan to diversify the dominion’s economic system.

Early final 12 months Riyadh introduced that beginning in 2024 solely worldwide firms with regional headquarters in Saudi Arabia might do enterprise with the Saudi authorities.

The crown prince’s efforts had been set again after journalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered in October 2018. Underneath bipartisan stress, Trump administration Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin canceled plans to attend the Future Funding Initiative convention held later that month. US intelligence businesses finally concluded that MBS accepted Khashoggi’s killing. The Saudi authorities has denied that the crown prince had any function within the homicide.

Engagement with Saudi Arabia has picked again up, culminating with Biden’s go to to the dominion, the place he was photographed fist-bumping with MBS in July.

Earlier than the OPEC+ determination this month, US and Saudi officers spent hours discussing the way forward for oil costs, in response to administration officers.

The Saudis instructed the Individuals they had been ready to maintain the elevated manufacturing till the tip of the 12 months, the senior administration official mentioned, and that was the expectation of each the US and different OPEC international locations for months.

However then extra just lately, the Saudis introduced the US with an evaluation that the value of oil was prone to fall and argued they wanted to chop manufacturing to keep away from a worth crater, US officers mentioned. The US disagreed and introduced proof that the costs had been prone to stay steady for an additional 30 days and that the manufacturing lower might wait till the following OPEC assembly, and it even argued OPEC might change manufacturing at any time if the value began to tank, they mentioned. However, they mentioned, the Saudis would not budge from their evaluation and charts arguing {that a} worth collapse was imminent.

Protests in Iran over lady’s loss of life attain key oil trade – Enterprise Information

Employees on the website of a significant complicated of refineries essential for Iran’s huge offshore pure fuel area protested Monday over the loss of life of a 22-year-old lady, on-line movies appeared to point out.

The demonstrations at Asaluyeh mark the primary time the unrest surrounding the loss of life of Mahsa Amini threatened the coffers of Iran’s long-sanctioned theocratic authorities — its oil and fuel trade.

Whereas it stays unclear if different employees will observe, the protests come as demonstrations rage on in cities, cities and villages throughout Iran over the Sept. 16 loss of life of Amini after her arrest by the nation’s morality police in Tehran. Early on Monday, the sound of obvious gunshots and explosions echoed by means of the streets of a metropolis in western Iran, whereas safety forces reportedly killed one man in a close-by village, activists mentioned.

Iran’s authorities insists Amini was not mistreated, however her household says her physique confirmed bruises and different indicators of beating. Subsequent movies have proven safety forces beating and shoving feminine protesters, together with girls who’ve torn off their necessary scarf, or hijab.

From the capital, Tehran, and elsewhere, on-line movies have emerged regardless of authorities disrupting the web. Movies on Monday confirmed college and highschool college students demonstrating and chanting, with some girls and women marching by means of the streets with out headscarves because the protests proceed right into a fourth week. The demonstrations characterize one of many largest challenges to Iran’s theocracy because the 2009 Inexperienced Motion protests.

On-line movies analyzed by The Related Press confirmed dozens of employees gathered on the refineries in Asuluyeh, some 925 kilometers (575 miles) south of Tehran, on the Persian Gulf. The huge complicated takes in pure fuel from the huge offshore pure fuel area that Iran shares with Qatar.

In a single video, the gathered employees — some with their faces coated — chant “shameless” and “loss of life to the dictator.” The chants have been options throughout protests coping with Amini’s loss of life.

“That is the bloody yr Seyyed Ali shall be overthrown,” the protesters chanted, refusing to make use of the title ayatollah to check with Iran’s Supreme Chief Ali Khamenei. An ayatollah is a high-ranking Shiite cleric.

Others present them gathered across the huge community of tanks and industrial options, in addition to on a close-by roadway. The small print within the movies correspond with every and to identified options of the power in contrast towards satellite tv for pc images taken Sunday.

Iran didn’t acknowledge any disruption on the facility, although the semiofficial Tasnim information company described the incident as a wage dispute. Iran is among the world’s prime pure fuel suppliers, simply after the US and Russia.

The violence early Monday in western Iran occurred in Sanandaj, the capital of Iran’s Kurdistan province, in addition to within the village of Salas Babajani close to the border with Iraq, in keeping with a Kurdish group known as the Hengaw Group for Human Rights. Amini was Kurdish and her loss of life has been felt significantly in Iran’s Kurdish area, the place demonstrations started Sept. 17 at her funeral there.

Hengaw posted footage it described as smoke rising in a single neighborhood in Sanandaj, with what gave the impression of fast rifle fireplace echoing by means of the night time sky. The shouts of individuals could possibly be heard.

There was no rapid phrase if folks had been harm within the violence. Hengaw later posted a video on-line of what seemed to be collected shell casings from rifles and shotguns, in addition to spent tear fuel canisters.

Authorities supplied no rapid clarification in regards to the violence early Monday in Sanandaj, some 400 kilometers (250 miles) west of Tehran. Esmail Zarei Kousha, the governor of Iran’s Kurdistan province, alleged with out offering proof that unknown teams “plotted to kill younger folks on the streets” on Saturday, the semiofficial Fars information company reported Monday.

Kousha additionally accused these unnamed teams that day of capturing a younger man within the head and killing him — an assault that activists have roundly blamed on Iranian safety forces. They are saying Iranian forces opened fireplace after the person honked his automotive horn at them. Honking has change into one of many methods activists have been expressing civil disobedience — an motion that has seen riot police in different movies smashing the windshields of passing automobiles.

Within the village of Salas Babajani, some 100 kilometers (60 miles) southwest of Sanandaj, Iranian safety forces repeatedly shot a 22-year-old man protesting there who later died of his wounds, Hengaw mentioned. It mentioned others had been wounded within the capturing.

It stays unclear how many individuals have been killed within the demonstrations or by the safety drive crackdown focusing on them. State tv final recommended at the least 41 folks had been killed within the demonstrations as of Sept. 24. Within the over two weeks since, there’s been no replace from Iran’s authorities.

An Oslo-based group, Iran Human Rights, estimates at the least 185 folks have been killed. This consists of an estimated 90 folks killed by safety forces within the japanese Iranian metropolis of Zahedan amid demonstrations towards a police officer accused of rape in a separate case. Iranian authorities have described the Zahedan violence as involving unnamed separatists, with out offering particulars or proof.

In the meantime, a jail riot has struck town of Rasht, killing a number of inmates there, a prosecutor reportedly mentioned. It wasn’t instantly clear if the riot at Lakan Jail was linked to the continuing protests, although Rasht has seen heavy demonstrations in current weeks since Amini’s loss of life.

The semiofficial Mehr information company quoted Gilan provincial prosecutor Mehdi Fallah Miri as saying, “some prisoners died due to their wounds because the electrical energy was reduce (on the jail) due to the injury.” He additionally alleged prisoners refused to permit authorities entry to these wounded.

Miri described the riot as breaking out in a wing of a jail housing loss of life penalty inmates.

Some airport web sites go offline; trigger being investigated – Enterprise Information

Airport web sites assault

The Related Press – | Story: 389764

The web sites for some main US airports went down early Monday in an obvious coordinated denial-of-service assault, though officers mentioned flights weren’t affected.

The assaults adopted a name by a shadowy group of pro-Russian hackers that calls itself Killnet for coordinated denial-of-service assaults on the targets. The group revealed a goal record on its Telegram channel.

“We seen this morning that the exterior web site was down, and our IT and safety persons are within the technique of investigating,” mentioned Andrew Gobeil, a spokesman for Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Worldwide Airport. “There was no impression on operations.”

Parts of the public-facing aspect of the Los Angeles Worldwide Airport web site had been additionally disrupted, spokeswoman Victoria Spilabotte mentioned. “No inside airport methods had been compromised and there have been no operational disruptions.”

Spilabotte mentioned the airport notified the FBI and the Transportation Safety Administration, and the airport’s information-technology staff was working to revive all providers and examine the trigger.

A number of different airports reported issues connecting to their web sites and seemed to be functioning very slowly, together with Chicago’s O’Hare Worldwide Airport web site, which was included on Killnet’s goal record.

The Chicago Division of Aviation mentioned in a press release that web sites for O’Hare and Halfway Airport went offline early Monday however that no airport operations had been affected.

Final week, a bunch of hackers claimed duty for cyberattacks in opposition to state authorities web sites throughout the nation.

East Ridge’s Bass Professional hiring truthful seeks so as to add employees for holidays and different enterprise information

Bass Professional seeks hires for vacation season

The Bass Professional Store in East Ridge will conduct a hiring truthful from 10 am to 7 pm Wednesday and Thursday so as to add 22 extra native workers to gear up for the vacation season forward.

The out of doors retailer, which additionally operates Cabela’s shops, is conducting job gala’s at shops throughout the nation to rent a complete of three,500 seasonal, part-time and full-time group members.

Candidates are inspired to use upfront by visiting basspro.com/careers, however retailer managers may even be interviewing walk-in candidates this week. Candidates for many obtainable positions should be at the very least 18 years outdated, with some meals service trade positions open to these 16 years of age or older.

Bass Professional touts such worker advantages as merchandise reductions as much as 50% off, well being and dental advantages for eligible employees and what the corporate mentioned in an announcement are “aggressive wages, vacation and trip pay.”

In 2021 and 2022, Forbes ranked Bass Professional Outlets and Cabela’s within the high 10 amongst “America’s Greatest Employers” as a part of a nationwide survey of 500 giant corporations. Final month, Newsweek ranked the corporate among the many “Greatest in Buyer Service” of out of doors retailers.

Athens brewery expands beer supply to Chattanooga

Creature Comforts Brewing Co., an Athens, Georgia-based craft brewery, expanded distribution to Chattanooga this month after getting into the Nashville and South Carolina markets final yr with its 4 common beers.

The brand new beers being distributed domestically by Lipman Brothers embrace Athena, a tart German-style wheat beer; Automated, a vibrant and refreshing Pale Ale; Bibo, a crisp and dry Pilsner; and Tropicália, a balanced and juicy IPA.

“After the nice reception and success of our first enlargement into Tennessee by way of Nashville earlier this yr, we had been excited to proceed exploring extra markets within the state,” Creature Comforts CEO Chris Herron mentioned in an announcement of the enlargement into Chattanooga “We’ve been contacted very often by the native shoppers and retailers, and it’s an honor to lastly be bringing our beers and group impression work to Chattanooga.”

Ian Wolczyk, enterprise unit director of beer for Lipman Brothers, mentioned the 8-year-old Creature Comforts has a robust beer product and a dedication to serving the communities the place it operates.

“Their standing as B Corp, precedence on philanthropy, and involvement with the culinary tradition make an amazing partnership with Lipman Brothers,” Wolcyzk mentioned in an announcement. “We’re greater than excited to share of their future.”

Financial institution of England buys bonds for stability

The Financial institution of England stepped up its intervention in Britain’s bond market Tuesday, the second enlargement of its emergency measures in two days, because it was warned of a “materials danger” to the nation’s monetary stability from dysfunction in a part of the market.

For the previous 2 1/2 weeks, Britain’s monetary markets have confronted turmoil after buyers rebuffed the tax-cutting and spending insurance policies of Prime Minister Liz Truss and her new authorities. The pound dropped to a file low and bond costs fell, which induced bond yields to surge, leaving many Britons dealing with greater mortgage charges. On Tuesday, the Worldwide Financial Fund mentioned the federal government’s insurance policies had been “complicating” the central financial institution’s combat towards inflation.

The Financial institution of England felt compelled to intervene by providing to purchase authorities bonds, and postponed its plans to unload its debt holdings again to the market.

Initially, this helped deliver bond yields down. However tumult has returned as merchants surprise what’s going to occur when the bond-buying operation ends Friday.

Delta invests in electrical helicopters

Delta Air Traces says it has invested $60 million in a startup that hopes to construct electrical helicopter-like air taxis to ferry passengers to the airport.

Delta introduced Tuesday that it has taken a 2% stake in Joby Aviation, and will make investments as much as one other $140 million because the producer hits key milestones.

Joby is amongst a number of firms engaged on electric-powered plane that take off and land vertically, like helicopters. The corporate has mentioned that it expects to start flying in 2024.

Present designs for electrical air taxis are too small to make use of for airline flights — the load of batteries is among the many big obstacles dealing with producers. However airways imagine the machines could possibly be engaging as a time-saving journey to and from airports in massive, traffic-clogged cities. Delta hopes to make use of the Joby plane first in New York and Los Angeles.

Delta CEO Ed Bastian known as the deal a groundbreaking alternative to assist clients in key markets that Delta has been constructing for a few years.

— Compiled by Dave Flessner

Can You Protect Your Child’s Inheritance From Their Spouse?

Many of our clients want to plan for their children’s future, when drafting their estate plans. However, some of our clients are concerned about their child’s spouse accessing the inheritance.

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While each client has different concerns and requires tailored estate planning, one question we often hear relates to protecting the inheritance of the spouse of their child.

So can inheritance be protected from a spouse of your child?

Yes, there are many ways to try to protect inheritance.

While every situation is different, there are steps that can be taken to try to keep the money for your child – and not their spouse.

One way to attempt to protect the money is to instruct the child as to how to handle inheritance of money upon receipt.

Tell your child to hold on to any documentation that specifies that the inheritance is for the child, and not to the child and their spouse. Keeping the inheritance in a separate account can insulate it further.

One of the best ways to protect inheritance is by putting a language in your trust that specifies how it is to be distributed.

An incredibly useful tool in protecting inheritance is a trust for your child, inside your trust. This is often referred to as a sub-trust.

If you put your child’s money into a sub-trust within your trust, you can stagger their distribution and put language in place about how they can access their inheritance.

If you stagger their distribution so that they receive chunks at certain ages, if they get divorced, hopefully they will still have the remaining distributions following their divorce.

Prior to a distribution set, you can provide guidance to the trustee so that they know when they can give money to your child for a variety of purposes.

Tailored language in your trust is one of the best ways to potentially protect the inheritance of money, especially if divorce is on the horizon.

Utilizing a trust, as opposed to a will or dying interest, also keeps the terms private. If your child is estranged from their spouse, they might not even be aware of the trust and distribution.

If your child is not yet married, consult an attorney about a pre-nuptial agreement when the time comes. This agreement can plan for future inheritance.

We help our clients put the correct estate planning documents in place to address their concerns and protect their wishes. We also help clients routinely update their documents as situations change.

Let us know if you have questions as to what type of estate plan is right for you or your loved ones or if you need help tailoring language to protect your child’s inheritance.

Contact us today to help you get the right documents in place or to update your current estate plan. We will plan so that you don’t have to worry about your future.

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Flywire Co. (NASDAQ:FLYW) CFO Sells $363,120.00 in Stock

Flywire Co. (NASDAQ:FLYW – Get Free Report) CFO Michael G. Ellis sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.26, for a total value of $363,120.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 226,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,852,649.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available on the SEC website.

Flywire Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FLYW opened at $32.73 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $30.68 and its 200 day moving average is $28.18. Flywire Co. has a fifty-two week low of $17.16 and a fifty-two week high of $33.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.63 billion, a PE ratio of -109.10 and a beta of 1.11.

Flywire (NASDAQ:FLYW – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 9th. The company reported earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by $0.02. Flywire had a negative return on equity of 6.89% and a negative net margin of 10.30%. The company had revenue of $89.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $82.69 million. Equities analysts forecast that Flywire Co. will post -0.14 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Flywire

Want More Great Investment Ideas?

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FLYW. Fred Alger Management LLC increased its stake in Flywire by 438.7% in the first quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 2,456,799 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,132,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000,717 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Flywire by 29.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,281,361 shares of the company’s stock worth $167,179,000 after purchasing an additional 1,635,222 shares during the period. GW&K Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Flywire by 165.7% in the fourth quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 2,178,521 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,309,000 after purchasing an additional 1,358,639 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC increased its stake in Flywire by 2,255.5% in the fourth quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 1,353,373 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,117,000 after purchasing an additional 1,295,916 shares during the period. Finally, TimesSquare Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Flywire in the fourth quarter worth $24,705,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on FLYW shares. Bank of America upped their price target on Flywire from $32.00 to $36.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Flywire from $39.00 to $41.00 in a research note on Friday, June 2nd. Stephens upped their price target on Flywire from $32.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Flywire from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 13th. Finally, B. Riley initiated coverage on Flywire in a research note on Friday, June 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $38.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.09.

About Flywire

(Get Free Report)

Flywire Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a payments enablement and software company in the United States and internationally. Its payment platform and network, and vertical-specific software help clients to get paid and help their customers to pay. The company’s platform facilitates payment flows across multiple currencies, payment types, and payment options; and provides direct connections to alternative payment methods, such as Alipay, Boleto, PayPal/Venmo, and Trustly.

Read More

Insider Buying and Selling by Quarter for Flywire (NASDAQ:FLYW)

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The Dangers of the EHR

The Dangers of the EHR

Electronic Health Records can be an incredibly helpful tool. However, they are not without fault. A recent warning highlights that electronic health records (EHRs) are a top target of cybercriminals. They can also lead to inappropriate billing if they are not set up correctly.

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The Health Sector Cybersecurity Coordination Center (HC3) issued a warning to healthcare entities regarding EHR vulnerabilities and protections.

Protected health information (PHI) continues to hold its value on the dark web and is a constant target of cybercriminals.

With the recent growth of telehealth and healthcare technology, we have seen a large increase in cybercrime and breaches attempting to benefit from security lapses.

How can you protect your patients’ PHI and your practice?

It is essential to utilize best practices when it comes to healthcare privacy and security.

Make sure that you are up to date with all security patches and regularly change your passwords.

Ensure that your staff regularly changes all passwords for all devices that can access patient data. Also make sure that no passwords are visible within the office.

Encryption is the best way to ensure that healthcare data is protected from threats.

We recommend and assist our clients with staff trainings that highlight realistic protection measures, including phishing awareness and ransomware responses.

It is essential that your backups are offsite and secure, in the event your practice is breached. Test your response time to get your practice operating once a cyber attack has occurred.

Further, to avoid compliance fines and penalties, it is essential that your EHR template is set up correctly. Are you auditing your templates and records? Audits can be incredibly helpful and offer invaluable insight.

We have seen firsthand the potential damages of an incorrect template.

If you need help protecting your patient data or auditing your EHR records, we can help. Contact Rickard & Associates today.

We know you’re busy. Subscribe to our blog to get updates and news sent directly to your inbox!

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Do you need help updating your Business Associate Agreement or negotiating contracts with third-party vendors? We can help. To contact us about your Business Associate Agreement, your vendor contracts or your other legal needs, call us today.

The post The Dangers of the EHR appeared first on Rickard & Associates.

BuzzFeed News to be shuttered in corporate cost cutting move – Business News

Pulitzer Prize winning digital media outlet BuzzFeed News is being shut down as part of a cost-cutting drive by its corporate parent that’s shedding about 15% of its entire staff, adding to layoffs made earlier this year.

In a memo sent to staff, Buzzfeed Inc. co-founder and CEO Jonah Peretti said Thursday that in addition to the news division, layoffs would take place in its business, content, tech and administrative teams. BuzzFeed is also considering making job cuts in international markets.

BuzzFeed has about 1,200 total employees, according to a recent regulatory filing, meaning about 180 people will be losing their jobs in the latest cuts.

Peretti said in his memo that he “made the decision to overinvest” in the news division, but failed to recognize early enough that the financial support needed to sustain operations was not there.

Digital advertising has plummeted this year, cutting into the profitability of major tech companies from Google to Facebook. Waves of layoffs have rolled through the tech industry and more are expected.

“I’ve learned from these mistakes, and the team moving forward has learned from them as well,” Peretti wrote in the memo. “We know that the changes and improvements we are making today are necessary steps to building a better future.”

The announcement comes just a few months after BuzzFeed said that it would be cutting 12% of its workforce, citing worsening economic conditions. Job cuts at were also announced in December.

Christian Baesler, the Buzzfeed Inc.’s chief operating officer, and Edgar Hernandez, its chief revenue officer, are also leaving after they assist with the restructuring.

The company will have one remaining news brand, HuffPost, Peretti wrote.

Journalists who previously worked at BuzzFeed News lamented its end.

“I’m heartsick about it, and proud of the great journalism we did when I was there and after I left,” said Ben Smith, BuzzFeed News’ editor from 2011 to 2020 and now editor in chief of Semafor.

Smith made the controversial decision in 2017 to publish a “dossier” of information about then-President Donald Trump, though many outlets avoided it as unreliable and even Buzzfeed said there were serious reasons to doubt the allegations. He wrote then that “we have always erred on the side of publishing.

BuzzFeed News’ shutdown “really marks the end of the marriage between news and social media,” said Smith, author of “Traffic,” a forthcoming history of that era.

BuzzFeed News won its first Pulitzer in 2021, in international reporting, for a series by Megha Rajagopalan, Alison Killing and Christo Buschek on the infrastructure built by the Chinese government for the mass detention of Muslims.

That same year, BuzzFeed News and the International Consortium of Journalists were finalists in that category for an expose on the global banking industry’s role in money laundering. A former US Treasury Department employee was sentenced to six months in prison this month for leaking the trove of confidential financial reports served on the basis of the series.

BuzzFeed said Thursday that all of the news division’s work will be preserved and available within the BuzzFeed network. The company is also working to ensure that any stories currently in progress will be published and promoted on the BuzzFeed property.