February 11, 2016

Healthcare Security: Use These 7 Safeguards to Help Prevent Data Breaches

An alarming 1 in 3 healthcare recipients in the United States will be the victim of a healthcare data breach this year, according to the research group, IDC Health Insights.

Why is healthcare data such a target?

First, online reports show that it’s worth up to 10 to 20 times more than credit cards on the black market (selling for $10 each). Plus, medical information, compared to credit card fraud, can be used in different ways – to access bank accounts, defraud insurers and government, and obtain prescriptions.

There’s also lots of personal health information (PHI) available. More and more health records are being digitized. Also, the range of wearable technologies in healthcare continues to grow.

Unfortunately, healthcare organizations are being warned that their cyber security is lax – and more vulnerable than other sectors to attacks.

In 2015, over 112 million records were exposed in 254 healthcare breaches, according to the Office of Civil Rights (OCR).

The 2015 Cost of Data Breach Study showed that the average per patient cost of a data breach was $398, the highest across all industries.

Here are technical safeguards and security policies that can help prevent data breaches.

Healthcare security best practices can help health organizations avoid all the costs of a data breach – HIPAA fines and other compliance costs as well as damage to reputation and patient trust.