By Art Gross, President and CEO at HIPAA Secure Now!
Twitter: @HIPAASecureNow
A recent study by the Ponemon Institute calculated the cost of a healthcare related data breach to be $363 per record. This was the highest amount across all industries. A financial data breach cost $215 per record and a retail data breach cost $165 per record.
Targeting Protected Health Information
According to an article by IBM’s Security Intelligence, criminals are using medical information to acquire treatment, pharmaceuticals and medical equipment.
The study detailed how 59 percent of the victims noted that their medical information was used to acquire treatment or services, and 56 percent had credentials used to obtain pharmaceuticals or medical equipment. In addition, 52 percent had their information used to receive government-provided benefits such as Medicare or Medicaid. And while identity theft is often associated with one’s fiscal footprint, only 14 percent noted fraudulent credit accounts were opened in their name. But perhaps most alarming is that 23 percent said their health care records were accessed or modified by outsiders.
Health care related breaches were expensive to victims and damaging to provider’s reputations
If the fact that 65 percent of the respondents in the Ponemon Institute’s medical identity theft study paid an average of $13,500 out of pocket to resolve the crime isn’t enough incentive to secure information, then the negative impact a breach can have on providers’ reputations should be. The same study indicated 48 percent would change health care providers following a data breach, and only about 50 percent believe their health care providers are able to adequately protect their PHI.
This article was originally published on HIPAA Secure Now! and is republished here with permission.