The Best Medicine: Data Protection in the Healthcare Industry

The threat of data breaches continues to grow for the healthcare industry. In 2024, there were 1,378 healthcare data security breaches, 1,220 of which had confirmed data disclosure.

This growing threat affects healthcare organizations from a financial and regulatory perspective. IBM’s 2024 Cost of a Data Breach Survey found that data breaches in healthcare cost on average USD 9.77 million, the most of any industry and over $3 million more than the average cost of a data breach in financial services, which ranked second. The funds lost to data breach recovery, which includes costs of legal fees, internal and external communications, assessments, and more, could be used to support and recruit healthcare staff, provide better amenities for patients, or even promote hospital sustainability initiatives.

A data breach can also put organizations at risk of potentially violating the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), if personal health information (PHI) is exposed. Under HIPAA, covered healthcare organizations have a legal obligation to keep protected health information safe and are required to disclose data breaches to prominent media outlets involving breaches that affect 500 individuals or more, in addition to other reporting requirements they may be subject to under state laws. Data breaches can lead to lawsuits, lost patients, and negative press coverage.

Breaches can threaten not only sensitive patient data but also healthcare employee data. This can damage the trust between employees and organizations, which could worsen the current healthcare staffing crisis.

Given the high financial and legal stakes of a data breach in healthcare, organizations should take steps to help ensure the integrity of the healthcare facility’s private information and protect patients’ sensitive data. Below are six ways to help prevent data breaches in healthcare.

1. Increase the cyber security budget. Protect patient data with advanced network security that can detect indicators of compromise and quickly respond before an attack starts. According to IBM’s Cost of a Data Breach 2024 report, among the organizations who experienced a data breach in 2024, more than half faced severe security staffing shortages. Cybersecurity Ventures predicts that over a five year period, 2020 to 2025, the healthcare industry will spend over $125 billion on cybersecurity products and service.

2. Conduct a HIPAA and HITECH security risk assessment. The HIPAA Security Rule requires that covered entities and business associates conduct a risk assessment of their healthcare organization. The analysis will show potential threats to your organization’s PHI. To help small and medium-sized health care practices and business associates comply with the HIPAA Security Rule, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) and the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) launched a HIPAA Security Risk Assessment (SRA) Tool.

3. Improve network security. Use the most up-to-date information security measures, and vet partners and third parties to make sure they all have the proper information security in place too.

4. Separate patient information. Create dual wireless networks in facilities so there is one protected network for patient privacy and another for the public and others.

5. Provide on-going employee training. All employees should understand data security best practices in the workplace. Use HIPAA compliance training to teach individuals to protect their patients and their own health records too.

6. Securely destroy confidential information. All confidential health information must be securely destroyed when it is no longer needed. According to Verizon’s 2024 Data Breach Investigations Report, errors in healthcare have increased significantly, with more than 50% stemming from misdelivery, which is when information is sent to the wrong recipient, whether by electronic or physical means. Loss is in second place and primarily consists of the misplacement of paper documents. This statistic highlights the need for professional secure document destruction.

Find out how WM's Shred-it® Secure Document Shredding can help protect your healthcare facility’s private information.

This article is for general information purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice on any specific facts or circumstances.