Whether the internet has made our lives better or worse depends on the perspective (half full or half empty), and is an excellent water cooler conversation. :-)
The normal workflow is so ingrained in our company culture, that I received an email from our IT team about not clicking on embedded links, and that email had a embedded link to "learn more". ;-)
I always suspected technical tools were more effective (time, effort, money) than the training programs. However, only company-wide training programs provide visibility to the CISO, so they tend to be popular even if ineffective.
Because you cannot fix humans, technology is the most effective approach.
I agree -- Ascension is also complicit in this, and merely paying lip-service to HIPAA. The Senator's letter, on the other hand, paints a one-sided picture of the matter.