Healthcare breaches account for nearly 25% of all data breaches.
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One of the biggest issues is that the government is not doing their part to keep patient information safe by failing to update outdated regulations and failing to communicate details of breach incident audits effectively.
The Brookings Institution created a report indicating that the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) and the private sector need to better ensure security practices within healthcare.
The private-sector strategy needs to step up to the challenge, especially when government regulations fail to go the distance.
Over the past six years, over 155,000,000 Americans have had their protected health information potentially exposed through breaches.
Why?
One potential reason is that government incentives led organizations to adopt EHRs without investing in the necessary security and privacy technologies.
Further, HIPAA does not specify how to protect health data and falls short in addressing modern cybersecurity challenges so there is limited guidance for healthcare providers.
How to move improve and avoid breaches:
The Brookings’ report offered several words of advice.
First, healthcare providers need to prioritize patient privacy. This could be further improved through information sharing about security technology, privacy policies and breaches.
Finally, cyber insurance should be widely adapted.
We help our clients apply for and obtain cyber insurance coverage, as it is an effective way to deal with breaches.
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