August 2026 Healthcare Data Breach Report
An analysis of data breaches affecting 500 or more individuals reported to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) in August 2026 shows a considerable improvement from the previous month. Data breaches are down 34% month-over-month, with August’s total of 52 data breaches, the second-lowest monthly total in the past 12 months, well below the 12-month average of 66 data breaches per month.

While August was a relatively good month for healthcare data breaches, the year-to-date figures show that 2026 is turning out to be another bad year for healthcare data breaches. Last year was the worst-ever year for healthcare data breaches, with 807 incidents reported. So far this year, 593 large healthcare data breaches have been reported to OCR. At this time last year, the total stood at 556 data breaches. That’s a 6.7% year-over-year increase.

Across the 52 data breaches, the protected health information of at least 8,377,327 individuals was exposed or impermissibly accessed or disclosed. While that represents a 75% month-over-month decrease in affected individuals, July was one of the worst months in recent history for breached healthcare records, with more than 33 million affected individuals.

This year has already seen the protected health information of 78.6 million individuals exposed or impermissibly accessed or disclosed. That represents a 14.8% year-over-year increase in affected individuals.
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The Biggest Healthcare Data Breaches in August 2026
Two data breaches stand out in August in terms of scale. The largest data breach of the month, and the fourth largest data breach to be reported by a HIPAA-regulated entity so far this year, involved unauthorized access to the protected health information of more than 4.1 million individuals. The incident occurred at AdaptHealth, a healthcare company that provides home medical equipment, diabetes supplies, and sleep therapy products. AdaptHealth was contacted by a member of the ShinyHunters data theft and extortion group in June and was informed that its network had been accessed and sensitive data exfiltrated. Data theft was later confirmed.
The second largest data breach was reported by the clinical genomics company Baylor Genetics. An unknown hacker accessed parts of its network that contained the protected health information of more than 2.8 million patients. These were two of 17 data breaches affecting more than 10,000 individuals, and all but two of those incidents were hacking incidents. No information has been released on one of the non-hacking incidents. The other involved data theft by a former facilitator who stole data and attempted to sell it to another individual.
| Regulated Entity | State | Covered Entity Type | Individuals Affected | Type of Breach | Location of Breached Information | Cause of Breach |
| AdaptHealth, LLC | PA | Healthcare Provider | 4,115,802 | Hacking/IT Incident | Network Server | Hacking incident involving data theft |
| Baylor Genetics | TX | Healthcare Provider | 2,810,878 | Hacking/IT Incident | Network Server | Hacking incident |
| American Addiction Centers | TN | Business Associate | 327,754 | Hacking/IT Incident | Network Server | Hacking incident involving theft of data from its Salesforce environment |
| Premier Medical Group of the Hudson Valley P.C. | NY | Healthcare Provider | 282,075 | Hacking/IT Incident | Network Server | Hacking incident |
| Boston Healthcare for the Homeless Program | MA | Healthcare Provider | 201,260 | Hacking/IT Incident | Network Server | Hacking incident |
| Midwest Spine & Brain Institute | MN | Healthcare Provider | 108,487 | Unauthorized Access/Disclosure | Network Server, Other | Hacking incident at business associate (3C Care Systems) |
| Oakdale Ear Nose & Throat PA d/b/a Minnesota ENT | MN | Healthcare Provider | 99,714 | Hacking/IT Incident | Unauthorized access to six employee email accounts | |
| Osceola Mental Health Inc. dba Park Place Behavioral Healthcare | FL | Healthcare Provider | 71,702 | Hacking/IT Incident | Network Server | Hacking incident |
| Kern Psychiatric Health and Wellness Center, Inc | CA | Healthcare Provider | 51,352 | Hacking/IT Incident | Network Server | Hacking incident at its management company (Genesis Healthcare Management) |
| NFI North, Inc. | NH | Healthcare Provider | 49,540 | Hacking/IT Incident | Network Server | Hacking incident |
| Hawaii Dental Group, Inc DBA Hawaii Family Dental | HI | Healthcare Provider | 45,853 | Hacking/IT Incident | Hacking incident involving a compromised email account | |
| Connecticut Department of Social Services | CT | Health Plan | 41,000 | Hacking/IT Incident | Network Server | Hacking incident involving a provider reimbursement account |
| Advantage Home Health Care | IN | Healthcare Provider | 19,851 | Hacking/IT Incident | Network Server | Hacking incident involving data exfiltration |
| Viking Enterprises, Inc. d/b/a City Ambulance Service | TX | Healthcare Provider | 14,324 | Hacking/IT Incident | Ransomware attack (Qilin) | |
| Public Partnerships LLC | NY | Business Associate | 12,018 | Unauthorized Access/Disclosure | Network Server | Insider data theft incident involving a former network facilitator |
| Kim Knobbe | MO | Business Associate | 11,927 | Unauthorized Access/Disclosure | Network Server, Other | Unauthorized access/disclosure incident – no information available |
| Silver Summit Medical Corporation | CA | Healthcare Provider | 11,349 | Hacking/IT Incident | Network Server, Other | Hacking incident at an unnamed vendor. Data theft confirmed |
When the breach notification deadline is reached, and the number of affected individuals has yet to be determined, data breaches need to be reported to OCR using an estimate of the number of affected individuals. Most regulated entities choose to report these breaches using a figure of 500 or 501 affected individuals, then update the breach report when the data review is concluded. In August, 7 such incidents were reported using these placeholder figures. These incidents are likely to have affected substantially more individuals than the initial breach report suggests.
| Regulated Entity | State | Covered Entity Type | Individuals Affected | Type of Breach |
| AnMed Health | SC | Healthcare Provider | 501 | Ransomware attack (The Gentlemen) |
| Baraga County Memorial Hospital | MI | Healthcare Provider | 501 | Ransomware attack (Wallstreet) |
| Longview ER Operations, LLC | TX | Healthcare Provider | 501 | Hacking incident |
| Horizon Eye Care Laser & Eye Surgery Center | NJ | Healthcare Provider | 501 | Hacking incident |
| Vista Del Mar Child and Family Services | CA | Healthcare Provider | 500 | Hacking incident |
| WellDyneRX, LLC | FL | Healthcare Provider | 500 | Hacking incident |
| Well Child, Inc. | TN | Healthcare Provider | 500 | Hacking incident – data theft confirmed |
Causes of August 2026 Healthcare Data Breaches
The majority of the month’s data breaches were hacking and other IT incidents, which accounted for 78.8% of the month’s data breaches and 98% of the affected individuals (8,215,959). On average, these incidents involved the exposure or theft of the protected health information of 205,399 individuals, with a median breach size of 5,258 individuals.
The year-to-date figures show a slight year-over-year increase in hacking/IT incidents. Between January 1 and August 30, 2026, 457 hacking/IT incidents have been reported, compared to 453 incidents for the corresponding period in 2025. While hacking incidents are only up by 0.9% year-over-year, 74,315,731 individuals have been affected, which is an 18.7% increase compared to this time last year.
There were 12 unauthorized access/disclosure incidents in August, involving the protected health information of 161,368 individuals. The average breach size was 13,447 individuals, and the median breach size was 4,024 individuals. The year-to-date figures show a 21.2% decrease in unauthorized access/disclosure incidents compared to this time last year, with incidents dropping from 94 for the period from January 1 to August 31 to 74 this year. So far this year, 1,651,788 individuals have been affected by these incidents, 71.7% fewer individuals than this time last year.
No loss, theft, or improper disposal incidents were reported in August. The year-to-date figures show a 75% year-over-year decrease in loss/theft incidents, with only two such incidents reported so far this year compared to 8 last year. There have been two unauthorized disposal incidents reported this year, compared to one such incident for the corresponding period in 2025.
Location of Breached Protected Health Information
In August, the most common location of breached protected health information was network servers, with email accounts the next most common location of breached data.

Data Breaches at HIPAA Regulated Entities
The HIPAA Breach Notification Rule requires HIPAA-covered entities to report data breaches to OCR and notify the affected individuals. Notifications must also be issued when there is a data breach at a business associate of a HIPAA-covered entity; however, it is ultimately the responsibility of each affected HIPAA-covered entity to ensure that notifications are issued. A covered entity may delegate the reporting requirements to the business associate that experienced the data breach or may choose to issue notifications themselves. The raw breach data on the OCR breach portal shows data breaches based on the reporting entity, not where the data breach occurred.
In August, healthcare providers reported 41 data breaches, business associates reported 8 breaches, and 3 breaches were reported by health plans. The pie charts below show where the breach actually occurred rather than the reporting entity to better reflect data breaches at business associates.


Geographical Distribution of Healthcare Data Breaches
In August, large healthcare data breaches were reported by HIPAA-regulated entities in 29 states. Texas was the worst affected with 7 large data breaches, with California and Florida taking joint second spot with 4 breaches each.
| State | Breaches | State | Breaches |
| Texas | 7 | Idaho | 1 |
| California | 4 | Indiana | 1 |
| Florida | 4 | Kansas | 1 |
| Illinois | 3 | Maine | 1 |
| New York | 3 | Michigan | 1 |
| Pennsylvania | 3 | Missouri | 1 |
| Tennessee | 3 | North Dakota | 1 |
| Hawaii | 2 | New Hampshire | 1 |
| Massachusetts | 2 | New Jersey | 1 |
| Minnesota | 2 | Ohio | 1 |
| Arkansas | 1 | Oklahoma | 1 |
| Arizona | 1 | South Carolina | 1 |
| Colorado | 1 | Vermont | 1 |
| Connecticut | 1 | West Virginia | 1 |
| Georgia | 1 | ||
While only three HIPAA-regulated entities in Pennsylvania reported data breaches, the state ranked top in terms of affected individuals, with Texas taking second spot and Tennessee in third.
| State | Individuals Affected | State | Individuals Affected |
| Pennsylvania | 4,121,776 | Colorado | 5,378 |
| Texas | 2,838,764 | Maine | 5,000 |
| Tennessee | 333,448 | Kansas | 4,649 |
| New York | 295,031 | Arizona | 3,000 |
| Minnesota | 208,201 | Georgia | 2,750 |
| Massachusetts | 206,100 | North Dakota | 1,750 |
| Florida | 79,588 | Arkansas | 1,500 |
| California | 69,251 | Vermont | 1,408 |
| Hawaii | 54,172 | West Virginia | 1,215 |
| New Hampshire | 49,540 | Ohio | 808 |
| Connecticut | 41,000 | Idaho | 553 |
| Indiana | 19,851 | Michigan | 501 |
| Illinois | 13,474 | New Jersey | 501 |
| Missouri | 11,927 | South Carolina | 501 |
| Oklahoma | 5,690 | ||
HIPAA Enforcement Activity in August 2026
OCR announced one enforcement activity in August to resolve noncompliance with the HIPAA Rules. Azul Vision, Inc., a California optometry and ophthalmology service provider, agreed to settle an alleged violation of the HIPAA Privacy Rule’s right of access for $50,000. A patient was not provided with timely access to her medical records. She filed a complaint with OCR after 3 months and finally received the records two years after the initial request was made. State Attorneys General may also impose penalties for HIPAA violations, although no HIPAA violation cases were announced in August.
About this Report
The HIPAA Journal monthly data breach reports are based on data obtained from the HHS Office for Civil Rights and have been combined with breach report data from other sources. The data breaches included in this report were reported in August 2026 but occurred weeks or months previously. The data was obtained from OCR on October 23, 2026. The figures in this report may increase or decrease as HIPAA-regulated entities complete their breach investigations, and those changes will be reflected in our healthcare data breach statistics page and our annual HIPAA data breach reports. Further information about HIPAA enforcement actions can be found in our HIPAA violations cases page.
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Lehigh Valley Health Network Pays $800K Penalty to Resolve HIPAA Violations – The HIPAA Journal
Lehigh Valley Health Network Pays $800K Penalty to Resolve HIPAA Violations
Lehigh Valley Health Network has agreed to settle alleged violations of the HIPAA Rules with the HHS’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and will pay an $800,000 financial penalty and adopt a corrective action plan to address identified areas of noncompliance. This is OCR’s 22nd investigation of a ransomware attack to result in a financial penalty for noncompliance with the HIPAA Rules.
OCR launched an investigation after receiving a breach report on May 15, 2026, from Lehigh Valley Health Network about a cybersecurity incident that exposed the protected health information (PHI) of 248,359 individuals. Lehigh Valley Health Network identified suspicious activity within its network in early February 2023 and later confirmed that ransomware was involved. The ALPHV/BlackCat ransomware group breached parts of its network, specifically IT systems related to Delta Medix, a company acquired by Lehigh Valley Health Network in 2021. The ransomware group exfiltrated files containing patient information and issued a ransom demand. The ransom was not paid, and the stolen data was leaked on the ransomware group’s dark web data leak site.
Data stolen and leaked in the incident included names, addresses, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, financial information, diagnoses and conditions, lab results, medications, and treatment information. In addition, photographs of cancer patients receiving radiation oncology treatment were stolen in the incident and leaked online, including photographs of patients who were naked from the waist up. Lehigh Valley Health Network was sued over the data breach and settled the class action litigation for $65 million.
OCR’s investigation identified multiple potential violations of the HIPAA Rules, including two violations of the HIPAA Security Rule. Lehigh Valley Health Network was determined to have failed to conduct a comprehensive and accurate risk analysis to identify risks and vulnerabilities to electronic PHI, and failed to implement policies and procedures for regularly reviewing records of activity in information systems containing ePHI, such as audit logs, access reports, and security incident tracking reports. These failures led to the impermissible disclosure of the ePHI of 248,359 individuals, in violation of the HIPAA Privacy Rule.
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OCR also determined that Lehigh Valley Health Network failed to issue timely notifications to the affected individuals to alert them to the theft of their personal and health information and did not issue a timely notification to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, in violation of the HIPAA Breach Notification Rule. According to OCR, the intrusion was detected on February 4, 2026, and OCR was notified about the incident on May 15, 2026. The HHS Secretary must be notified about a breach of unsecured protected health information within 60 days of discovery of a breach. While OCR has not stated that it has an active enforcement initiative targeting noncompliance with the HIPAA Breach Notification Rule, a significant number of recent settlements have involved penalties for breach notification failures, including five of the 12 HIPAA settlements announced this year and five settlements last year.
Under the terms of the settlement agreement, in addition to the financial penalty, Lehigh Valley Health Network has agreed to adopt a corrective action plan that includes the requirements to conduct a comprehensive and accurate risk analysis, develop a risk management plan, review and revise its policies and procedures to ensure compliance with the HIPAA Rules, and develop training materials and provide training to its workforce on the HIPAA Rules relative to the performance of individuals’ job duties. OCR will monitor Lehigh Valley Health Network for compliance for a period of three years.
“Failure to conduct an accurate and thorough risk analysis and to undertake regular review of information system activity makes regulated entities attractive targets for cyberattacks,” said OCR Director Paula M. Stannard. “The best defense against cyberattacks is full implementation of the HIPAA Security Rule.”
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HHS Secures Six-Figure HIPAA Settlements With Employer-Sponsored Group Health Plans – Davis Wright Tremaine
Brandy Mabra on using AI safely without risking HIPAA – Rolling Out
GoodRx & Criteo Revised $32 Million Data Privacy Settlement Gets First Approval
A revised $32 million settlement has received first approval from the court to resolve class action data breach litigation against GoodRx and Criteo related to the use of website tracking tools on the GoodRx website that disclosed user information to third parties without consent. GoodRx is a Santa Monica, California-based telehealth company that operates a free-to-use platform that tracks prescription drug prices and offers coupons providing discounts on medications. Criteo is a Paris, France-based digital advertising company that offers AI-driven performance marketing and retargeting solutions.
Both companies agreed to settle a consolidated class action complaint alleging unfair business practices and improper sharing of consumer data with digital advertising and analytics companies between 2017 and 2020. The litigation also named other companies as defendants, which are not included in the settlement agreement. The litigation stems from a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) complaint alleging GoodRx unlawfully disclosed the personal and health information of its users in violation of the FTC Act and the FTC’s Health Breach Notification Rule. GoodRx disagreed with the FTC’s allegations; however, the FTC complaint was resolved with a $1.5 million settlement.
On February 2, 2023, the first putative class action lawsuit was filed, followed by other class action complaints against defendants GoodRx, Criteo, Meta and Google. The lawsuits were consolidated into a single complaint – Doe et al. v. GoodRx Holdings, Inc., et al. – which is pending in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, Oakland Division.
The consolidated lawsuit asserted claims for negligence, negligence per se, intrusion upon seclusion, unjust enrichment, and violations of the California Confidentiality of Medical Information Act, California Invasion of Privacy Act, California Consumers Legal Remedies Act, California Unfair Competition Law, New York’s General Business Law, and Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act.
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The plaintiffs believe their claims are valid, and the defendants deny the claims in the lawsuit and maintain no laws were violated. After two mediation conferences and subsequent discussions, a settlement was agreed upon that was acceptable to all parties to avoid the cost, distraction, and risks associated with a trial and related appeals. The proposed $25 million settlement was agreed by the plaintiffs and the defendants; however, the settlement was rejected by District Court Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin, as the parties failed to meet the legal standards for demonstrating that the settlement was fair to consumers.
In response, GoodRx and Criteo agreed to increase the settlement fund by $7 million and formally added Criteo to the settlement agreement. The claims against the other defendants, Meta and Google, are continuing separately. The renegotiated settlement agreement has received preliminary approval from the court. Under the terms of the settlement, GoodRx and Criteo will establish a $32,000,000 settlement fund from which attorneys’ fees and expenses, notification and settlement administration costs, settlement fund account costs, and service awards for the class representatives will be deducted. The remainder of the settlement fund will be paid pro rata to individuals who submit a valid claim. The settlement agreement includes a clause that allows the defendants to cancel the settlement if the number of individuals excluding themselves exceeds an agreed-upon number.
Class members wishing to object to the settlement or opt out must do so by December 29, 2026. Claims must be submitted by the same date, and the final fairness hearing has been scheduled for February 11, 2027.
December 4, 2024: GoodRx Agrees to $25 Million Settlement to Resolve Tracking Technology Lawsuit
GoodRx, a telemedicine platform provider and drug discounter, has agreed to settle a consolidated class action lawsuit for $25 million. The lawsuit was filed in response to its use of website tracking technologies that disclosed website visitor data to third parties such as Meta Platforms, Google, and Criteo for advertising purposes without user consent.
The tracking technologies, also known as pixels, are code snippets that are added to websites to track user interactions. The information gathered on visitors can be used to improve websites and is also transferred to third parties for advertising purposes. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) investigated GoodRx over the use of tracking tools and determined the FTC Act had been violated. GoodRx had provided repeated assurances to its users that their sensitive data would not be shared with third parties, when the tracking tools on its website shared identifying information, including sensitive health information, with third parties without users’ knowledge or consent. The FTC also alleged a violation of its Health Breach Notification Rule as GoodRx failed to notify users about the data sharing.
GoodRx disagreed with the FTC’s findings, claiming the issue had been addressed almost 3 years before the FTC started investigating and maintains there was no wrongdoing. GoodRx maintains tools were used for advertising purposes in a manner it believed was compliant with all regulations. GoodRx chose to settle the alleged violations with the FTC for $1.5 million rather than fight them in court. The settlement agreement also requires GoodRx to refrain from sharing users’ health information with third parties for advertising purposes and to obtain consent before sharing data for non-advertising purposes.
Shortly after the FTC settlement was announced, a class action lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of California against GoodRx that made similar allegations to the FTC – that personal information was disclosed to third parties without users’ knowledge or consent, when they had been informed on the website – between October 2017 and March 2019- that their personal information would not be disclosed to third parties. Specifically, the plaintiffs claimed that the website stated, “We never provide advertisers or any other third parties with any information that reveals a personal health condition of personal health information.”
The lawsuit asserted claims of common law invasion of privacy, intrusion upon seclusion, unjust enrichment, violations of the California Confidentiality of Medical Information Act (CMIA), aiding and abetting violations of CMIA, violations of the California Invasion of Privacy Act, violations of the California Consumers Legal Remedies Act, and violations of the California Business and Professional Code. Several other lawsuits were filed over the privacy violations, which were consolidated into a single action, – Jane Doe et al. v. GoodRx Holdings, Inc., et al. The consolidated lawsuit also asserts claims of negligence, negligence per se, and violations of New York’s General Business Law and the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act.
Meta, Google, and Criteo were also named in the lawsuit as co-defendants, and all three companies are attempting to have the claims against them dismissed. District Court Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin is due to issue a ruling on the plaintiffs’ motion to approve the $25 million settlement. Should the judge approve the settlement, the plaintiffs will be permitted to continue to pursue claims against the other co-defendants, as they are not part of the proposed settlement.
If approved, individuals whose privacy was violated will be permitted to file claims for a share of the settlement fund, after attorneys’ fees, service awards, and legal costs and expenses have been deducted. The plaintiffs’ attorneys are seeking one-third of the settlement amount – $8.33 million.
Update: The $25 million settlement agreement was rejected by the judge, as both sides failed to adequately demonstrate that the settlement was fair to consumers. There was a lack of claim-by-claim analysis showing the economic value and legal strength of each claim, unjustified financial discounts, missing evidence of confirmatory discovery, and overly broad liability releases.
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Hospital Ransomware Attacker Receives 70 Month Jail Term – The HIPAA Journal
Hospital Ransomware Attacker Receives 70 Month Jail Term
A Ukrainian affiliate of the Nefilim & Hive ransomware operations who attacked hospitals, government entities, and businesses over a three-year period has received a 70-month jail term. Ukrainian national Artem Aleksandrovych Stryzhak, 35, was arrested in Spain in June 2024 and was extradited to the United States on April 30, 2025, to face charges of alleged involvement in the Nefilim and Hive ransomware operations. Co-conspirator, Ukrainian national Volodymyr Tymoshchuk, was also indicted but remains at large. An $11 million reward has been offered by the U.S. Department of State for information that leads to his arrest.
Stryzhak was alleged to have joined the Nefilim ransomware operation as an affiliate in June 2021, and agreed to pay the ransomware operator 20% of any ransom payments he generated in exchange for access to the Nefilim group’s infrastructure and encryptor. Between June 2021 and October 2021, Stryzhak used Nefilim ransomware in multiple attacks on entities in the United States.
Stryzhak was also alleged to have been a member of the Hive ransomware operation between June 2021 and January 2023, and along with his co-conspirators, conducted attacks on hospitals, government entities, and businesses. According to the prosecutors, along with his co-conspirators, Stryzhak deployed Hive ransomware against seven victims, including law firms, a dentist’s office, and a healthcare provider during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Stryzhak pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud and related activity such as extortion in connection with international ransomware operations and faced up to 10 years in jail. At sentencing in federal court in Brooklyn on October 27, 2026, Stryzhak received a 70-month prison term. “Artem Stryzhak chose to deploy ransomware that extorted money from victims, leaving businesses and individuals facing devastating losses. His actions serve as a strong reminder of the real-world damage cybercriminals can cause and underscore the FBI’s commitment to stopping these schemes and protecting the public,” stated FBI Assistant Director in Charge Barnacle.
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