HIPAA Compliance News

OCR Launches Information is Powerful Medicine Campaign to Encourage Patients to Access Their Health Data

Posted by HIPAA Journal

The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights has launched a new campaign to raise awareness of patients’ right to access their health information and the benefits of doing so.

The “Information is Powerful Medicine” campaign informs patients that they have the right to obtain copies of their health data and tells them to “Get it. Check it. Use it.”

The benefits to patients are clear. If they obtain copies of the health information they can check their medical records for errors and correct any mistakes. Having access to health data helps patients to make better decisions about their health care and discuss their health more fully with their providers. Armed with their health data, patients can do more to stay healthy.

Patients are advised that the HIPAA Privacy Rule allows them to obtain a physical or electronic copy of their health data and that their provider should provide the information as requested within 30 days. It has been explained that they may be charged a nominal fee for obtaining a copy of their health data. Patients are also informed that copies of their health data cannot be denied by their providers, even if there is a medical bill outstanding.

Healthcare providers should encourage their patients to take greater interest in their own healthcare and obtain copies of their health records. OCR has produced a range of resources for healthcare providers to use to achieve this aim, including brochures, web banners, and posters.

The OCR resources can be accessed on this link: HIPAA Right to Access Health Information.

Healthcare providers should make it as easy as possible for patients to request copies of their health data. To make the process as easy as possible, consider using the model PHI request form developed by AHIMA. The form helps healthcare providers streamline the request process and ensure all necessary information is obtained from patients.

The post OCR Launches Information is Powerful Medicine Campaign to Encourage Patients to Access Their Health Data appeared first on HIPAA Journal.

Limited HIPAA Waiver Granted to Hospitals in Irma Disaster Zone

Posted by HIPAA Journal

A public health emergency has been declared in areas of the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and Florida affected by Hurricane Irma.

As was the case in Texas and Louisiana after Hurricane Harvey, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has announced a limited waiver of HIPAA Privacy Rule sanctions and penalties for hospitals affected by Irma.

OCR has stressed that the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules have not been suspended and covered entities must continue to follow HIPAA Rules; however, certain provisions of the Privacy Rule have been waived under the Project Bioshield Act of 2014 and Section 1135(b) of the Social Security Act.

In the event that a hospital in the disaster zone does not comply with the following aspects of the HIPAA Privacy Rule, penalties and sanctions will be waived:

  • 45 CFR 164.510(b) – Obtain a patient’s agreement to speak with family members or friends involved in the patient’s care
  • 45 CFR 164.510(a) – Honor requests to opt out of the facility directory.
  • 45 CFR 164.520 – Distribute a notice of privacy practices.
  • 45 CFR 164.522(a) – The patient’s right to request privacy restrictions.
  • 45 CFR 164.522(b) – The patient’s right to request confidential communications.

The waiver only applies to penalties and sanctions in relation to the above provisions of the HIPAA Privacy Rule, only to hospitals in the emergency area that have implemented their disaster protocol, and only for the time period identified in the public health emergency declaration.

The waiver applies for a maximum of 72 hours after a hospital has implemented its disaster protocol. If either the President’s or HHS Secretary’s declaration terminates within that 72-hour time period, the hospital must immediately comply with all aspects of the HIPAA Privacy Rule for all patients under its care.

In emergency situations, the HIPAA Privacy Rule does permit the sharing of PHI for treatment purposes and with public health authorities that require access to PHI to carry out their public health mission. HIPAA-covered entities are also permitted to share information with family, friends, and others involved in an individual’s care, even if a waiver has not been issued. Further details of the allowable disclosures in emergency situations are detailed in the HHS HIPAA bulletin.

In all cases, covered entities must limit disclosures to the minimum necessary information to achieve the purpose for which PHI is disclosed.

Even during natural disasters, healthcare organizations and their business associates must continue to comply with the HIPAA Security Rule and must ensure appropriate administrative, physical, and technical safeguards are maintained to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of electronic protected health information to prevent unauthorized access and disclosures.

The post Limited HIPAA Waiver Granted to Hospitals in Irma Disaster Zone appeared first on HIPAA Journal.

OCR Stresses Need for Covered Entities to Prepare for Hurricanes and Other Natural Disasters

Posted by HIPAA Journal

Hospitals in Texas and Louisiana had to ensure medical services continued to be provided during and after Hurricane Harvey, without violating HIPAA Rules. Questions were raised about when it is permitted to share health information with patients’ friends and family, the media and the emergency services and how the Privacy Rule applies in emergencies. The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights responded by issuing guidance to covered entities on the HIPAA Privacy Rule and disclosures of patient health information in emergency situations to help healthcare organizations protect patient privacy and avoid violating HIPAA Rules. Allowable disclosures are summarized in this document.

Hot on the heels of hurricane Harvey comes hurricane Irma, closely followed by hurricane Jose. Hospitals in other parts of the United States will have to cope with the storm and its aftermath and still comply with HIPAA Rules. OCR has taken the opportunity to remind covered entities of the need to prepare.

OCR has explained that the HIPAA Privacy Rule was carefully created to ensure that in emergency situations, healthcare organizations can protect the privacy of patients and still share individually identifiable health information.

OCR also reconfirmed that even in emergency situations, the HIPAA Security Rule is not suspended and preparation for emergencies is essential. HIPAA-covered entities and business associates are required to implement strategies to ensure ePHI remains secured at all times and the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of ePHI is not placed in jeopardy. During and after an emergency, ePHI must be accessible, which means covered entities must plan for all eventualities to ensure patient health information can always be accessed.

OCR explained that the HIPAA Security Rule – § 164.308(a)(7) – requires contingency plans to include a data backup plan, disaster recovery plan, and emergency mode operation plan. These are all required elements of the HIPAA Security Rule.

The data backup plan must ensure retrievable, exact copies of electronic protected health information are created and maintained. The disaster recovery plan must ensure any data lost during a natural disaster or emergency can be recovered from backups. Procedures must be established, and implemented as necessary, to ensure data can be quickly recovered. During emergency mode, security processes to protect ePHI must be maintained, even during power outages and technical failures.

Further, there are two addressable requirements: testing and revision procedures and application and data criticality analysis. Covered entities should periodically test their contingency plans and revise them as necessary to ensure they continue to be effective in an emergency situation. Covered entities should also identify software applications that store, maintain or transmit ePHI, and assess how important each is to business needs. Priorities must be set for data backup, emergency operations, and disaster recovery.

OCR has drawn attention to an interactive decision tool on the HHS website that has been developed to help healthcare organizations prepare for the worst and find out how HIPAA Rules apply in emergency situations. OCR explains, “The tool is designed for covered entities as well as emergency preparedness and recovery planners at the local, state and federal levels.”

While the reminders have been issued specifically to help covered entities prepare for when hurricane Irma makes landfall, even covered entities unlikely to be affected must ensure they are prepared for the worst.

The post OCR Stresses Need for Covered Entities to Prepare for Hurricanes and Other Natural Disasters appeared first on HIPAA Journal.

OCR Head Expects Major HIPAA Settlement for a Big, Juicy, Egregious Breach in 2017

Posted by HIPAA Journal

Roger Severino, the Director of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has stated his main enforcement priority for 2017 is to find a “big, juicy, egregious” HIPAA breach and to use it as an example for other healthcare organizations of the dangers of failing to follow HIPAA Rules.

When deciding on which cases to pursue, OCR considers the opportunity to use the case as an educational tool to remind covered entities of the need to comply with specific aspects of HIPAA Rules.

At the recent ‘Safeguarding Health Information’ conference run by OCR and NIST, Severino explained that “I have to balance that law enforcement instinct with the educational component that we do.” Severino went on to say, “I really want to make sure people come into compliance without us having to enforce. I want to underscore that.”

Severino did not explain what aspect of noncompliance with HIPAA Rules OCR is hoping to highlight with its next big, juicy settlement, although no healthcare organization is immune to a HIPAA penalty if they are found to have violated HIPAA Rules. Severino said, “Just because you are small doesn’t mean we’re not looking and that you are safe if you are violating the law. You won’t be.”

Severino also explained that the number of complaints OCR is now receiving is colossal. More than 20,000 complaints about security incidents and privacy violations are received each year. OCR has many staff issuing technical assistance to help covered entities with their compliance programs.  The goal is to significantly reduce the number of complaints and enjoy a “culture of compliance” throughout the country.

The majority of HIPAA violations are resolved through technical assistance and voluntary compliance, but financial penalties are appropriate for egregious breaches of HIPAA Rules.

Already this year, OCR has agreed eight settlements with covered entities to resolve HIPAA violations discovered during investigations of complaints and data breaches and has issued one civil monetary penalty:

2017 HIPAA Enforcement Actions

  • Memorial Healthcare System – $5.5 million
  • Children’s Medical Center of Dallas- $3.2 million (Civil monetary penalty)
  • Cardionet – $2.5 million
  • Memorial Hermann Health System (MHHS) – $2.4 million
  • MAPFRE Life Insurance Company of Puerto Rico – $2.2 million
  • Presense Health – $475,000
  • Metro Community Provider Network – $400,000
  • Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center Inc. – $387,000
  • The Center for Children’s Digestive Health – $31,000

The largest HIPAA settlement of 2017 was agreed with Memorial Healthcare System – a health system consisting of 6 hospitals and various other facilities in South Florida. The settlement of $5.5 million resolved potential violations of HIPAA Rules relating to the impermissible accessing of ePHI by employees and the impermissible disclosure of PHI to affiliated physician office staff.  The settlement underscored the importance of audit controls and the need to carefully control who has access to the ePHI.

The second largest HIPAA settlement of 2017 was for $2.5 million and resolved multiple potential violations of HIPAA Rules that contributed to a breach of 1,391 patient records. The incident involved the theft of an unencrypted laptop computer from healthcare services provider Cardionet. The settlement underscored the importance of conducting a comprehensive risk assessment and of addressing vulnerabilities to the confidentiality of ePHI.

In May, OCR announced a $2.4 million settlement with Memorial Hermann Health System. The settlement resolved HIPAA violations discovered during the investigation of an impermissible disclosure of a patient’s ePHI in a press release and during subsequent meetings with advocacy groups and state representatives.

In January, a $2.2 million settlement was agreed with MAPFRE Life Insurance Company of Puerto Rico. The incident that triggered the investigation involved the theft of an unencrypted pen drive containing the PHI of 2,209 individuals. The investigation revealed multiple violations of HIPAA Rules including the failure to conduct a thorough and accurate risk assessment, the failure to implement a security awareness training program, the failure to encrypt ePHI and the failure to implement appropriate policies to safeguard ePHI.

The civil monetary penalty against Children’s Medical Center of Dallas was issued for the impermissible disclosure of ePHI and multiple failures to comply with the HIPAA Security Rule over several years. The settlement resolves HIPAA failures that contributed to a breach of 3,800 records involving the loss of an unencrypted Blackberry device in 2009 and the loss of an unencrypted laptop containing 2,462 records in 2013.

There has been a period of quiet on the enforcement front over the summer, with the last settlement announced in May. The fall is likely to see more settlements announced and this year looks on track to be another record year for HIPAA enforcement. The big, juicy egregious breach that OCR is looking for may prove to be the largest HIPAA penalty yet.

The post OCR Head Expects Major HIPAA Settlement for a Big, Juicy, Egregious Breach in 2017 appeared first on HIPAA Journal.

HHS Issues Partial Waiver of Sanctions and Penalties for Privacy Rule Violations in Hurricane Harvey Disaster Zone

Posted by HIPAA Journal

During emergencies such as natural disasters, complying with all HIPAA Privacy Rule provisions can be a challenge for hospitals and can potentially have a negative impact on patient care and disaster relief efforts.

In emergency situations, HIPAA Rules still apply. The HIPAA Privacy Rule allows patient information to be shared to help with disaster relief efforts and ensure patients get the care they need.

The Privacy Rule permits covered entities to share patient information for treatment purposes, for public health activities, to disclose patient information to family, friends and others involved in a patient’s care, to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to the health and safety of a person or the public and, under certain circumstances, allows covered entities to share limited information with the media and other individuals not involved in a patient’s care (45 CFR 164.510(a)).

In such cases, any disclosures must be limited to the minimum necessary information to accomplish the purpose for which the information is being disclosed.

However, disasters often call for a relaxation of HIPAA Rules and the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human may choose to waive certain provisions of the HIPAA Privacy Rule under Project Bioshield Act of 2004 (PL 108-276) and section 1135(b)(7) of the Social Security Act.

During the Ebola crisis in November 2014, OCR issued a waiver for certain requirements of HIPAA Rules, as was the case in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina when a waiver was issued for certain Privacy Rule provisions.

Yesterday, HHS Secretary Tom Price announced that OCR will waive sanctions and financial penalties for specific Privacy Rule violations against hospitals in Texas and Louisiana that are in the Hurricane Harvey disaster area.

The waiver only applies to the provisions of the HIPAA Privacy Rule as detailed below:

  • The requirements to obtain a patient’s agreement to speak with family members or friends involved in the patient’s care. See 45 CFR 164.510(b).
  • The requirement to honor a request to opt out of the facility directory. See 45 CFR 164.510(a).
  • The requirement to distribute a notice of privacy practices. See 45 CFR 164.520.
  • The patient’s right to request privacy restrictions. See 45 CFR 164.522(a).
  • The patient’s right to request confidential communications. See 45 CFR 164.522(b)

These waivers only apply to hospitals in the emergency areas that have been identified in the public health emergency declaration.

The waiver only applies if hospitals have instituted a disaster protocol and the waiver applies for 72 hours after the disaster protocol has been implemented. The waiver will also only apply until the Presidential or Secretarial declaration terminates, even if the 72 hours has not elapsed.

Further information on the limited waiver of HIPAA sanctions and penalties as a result of Hurricane Harvey can be viewed in this HIPAA bulletin from HHS.

The post HHS Issues Partial Waiver of Sanctions and Penalties for Privacy Rule Violations in Hurricane Harvey Disaster Zone appeared first on HIPAA Journal.

HHS Issues Partial Waiver of Sanctions and Penalties for Privacy Rule Violations in Hurricane Harvey Disaster Zone

Posted by HIPAA Journal

During emergencies such as natural disasters, complying with all HIPAA Privacy Rule provisions can be a challenge for hospitals and can potentially have a negative impact on patient care and disaster relief efforts.

In emergency situations, HIPAA Rules still apply. The HIPAA Privacy Rule allows patient information to be shared to help with disaster relief efforts and ensure patients get the care they need.

The Privacy Rule permits covered entities to share patient information for treatment purposes, for public health activities, to disclose patient information to family, friends and others involved in a patient’s care, to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to the health and safety of a person or the public and, under certain circumstances, allows covered entities to share limited information with the media and other individuals not involved in a patient’s care (45 CFR 164.510(a)).

In such cases, any disclosures must be limited to the minimum necessary information to accomplish the purpose for which the information is being disclosed.

However, disasters often call for a relaxation of HIPAA Rules and the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human may choose to waive certain provisions of the HIPAA Privacy Rule under Project Bioshield Act of 2004 (PL 108-276) and section 1135(b)(7) of the Social Security Act.

During the Ebola crisis in November 2014, OCR issued a waiver for certain requirements of HIPAA Rules, as was the case in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina when a waiver was issued for certain Privacy Rule provisions.

Yesterday, HHS Secretary Tom Price announced that OCR will waive sanctions and financial penalties for specific Privacy Rule violations against hospitals in Texas and Louisiana that are in the Hurricane Harvey disaster area.

The waiver only applies to the provisions of the HIPAA Privacy Rule as detailed below:

  • The requirements to obtain a patient’s agreement to speak with family members or friends involved in the patient’s care. See 45 CFR 164.510(b).
  • The requirement to honor a request to opt out of the facility directory. See 45 CFR 164.510(a).
  • The requirement to distribute a notice of privacy practices. See 45 CFR 164.520.
  • The patient’s right to request privacy restrictions. See 45 CFR 164.522(a).
  • The patient’s right to request confidential communications. See 45 CFR 164.522(b)

These waivers only apply to hospitals in the emergency areas that have been identified in the public health emergency declaration.

The waiver only applies if hospitals have instituted a disaster protocol and the waiver applies for 72 hours after the disaster protocol has been implemented. The waiver will also only apply until the Presidential or Secretarial declaration terminates, even if the 72 hours has not elapsed.

Further information on the limited waiver of HIPAA sanctions and penalties as a result of Hurricane Harvey can be viewed in this HIPAA bulletin from HHS.

The post HHS Issues Partial Waiver of Sanctions and Penalties for Privacy Rule Violations in Hurricane Harvey Disaster Zone appeared first on HIPAA Journal.

Want to Prevent Data Breaches? Time to Go Back to Basics

Posted by HIPAA Journal

Intrusion detection systems, next generation firewalls, insider threat management solutions and data encryption will all help healthcare organizations minimize risk, prevent security breaches, and detect attacks promptly when they do occur. However, it is important not to forget the security basics. The Office for Civil Rights Breach portal is littered with examples of HIPAA data breaches that have been caused by the simplest of errors and security mistakes.

Strong security must start with the basics, as has recently been explained by the FTC in a series of blog posts. The blog posts are intended to help businesses improve data security, prevent data breaches and avoid regulatory fines. While the blog posts are not specifically aimed at healthcare organizations, the information covered is relevant to organizations of all sizes in all industry sectors.

The blog posts are particularly relevant for small to medium sized healthcare organizations that are finding data security something of a challenge.

The blog posts are an ideal starting point to ensure all the security basics are covered.  They cover 10 basic security principles the FTC looks at when investigating complaint and data breaches. The blog posts use examples from FTC cases and 60+ complaints and orders, including settlements reached with organizations that have failed to implement appropriate security controls. The FTC has also listened to the challenges faced by businesses when attempting to secure sensitive information and offers practical tips to address those challenges.

While the FTC has taken action against organizations, in the majority of cases investigations have been closed without any further action necessary. Companies may have experienced data breaches, yet they got the basics right and had implemented reasonable data security controls. They may not have been enough to prevent cyberattacks and other security incidents, but they were sufficient to avoid a financial penalty.

The same applies to Office for Civil Rights investigations into HIPAA data breaches. OCR investigates all breaches of more than 500 records, yet only a very small percentage of the 2,000+ data breaches reported to OCR have resulted in a financial penalty. If you want to avoid a FTC or HIPAA fine, it is essential to get the basics right. Getting the basics wrong can prove very costly indeed.

The FTC blog services covers the following aspects of data security:

  1. Start with security.
  2. Control access to data sensibly.
  3. Require secure passwords and authentication.
  4. Store sensitive personal information securely and protect it during transmission.
  5. Segment your network and monitor who’s trying to get in and out.
  6. Secure remote access to your network.
  7. Apply sound security practices when developing new products.
  8. Make sure your service providers implement reasonable security measures.
  9. Put procedures in place to keep your security current and address vulnerabilities that may arise.
  10. Secure paper, physical media, and devices.

The blog posts have been combined into the FTC’s Start with Security brochure, which is a “nuts-and-bolts brochure that distills the lessons learned from FTC cases down to 10 manageable fundamentals applicable to companies of any size.” The blog posts and brochure can be viewed on this link.

HIPAA-covered entities should also sign up with OCRs cybersecurity newsletter, which details new threats and further steps that covered entities should take to improve security and keep ePHI secure. To sign up for the newsletter, visit this link and be sure to check out the Security Rule guidance material published by HHS.

The post Want to Prevent Data Breaches? Time to Go Back to Basics appeared first on HIPAA Journal.

Delaying Breach Notifications is a Violation of the Breach Notification Rule

Posted by HIPAA Journal

The HIPAA Breach Notification Rule (45 CFR §§ 164.400-414) requires covered entities to notify the HHS’ Office for Civil Rights of a breach of unsecured protected health information and send notification letters to affected individuals without unreasonable delay and no later than 60 days after the discovery of the breach.

As last year’s monthly Breach Barometer reports from Protenus have shown, many covered entities have struggled to comply with the HIPAA Breach Notification Rule and have disclosed their breaches to OCR after the deadline has passed.

This year has seen a major improvement in reporting times. The Protenus 2017 Breach Barometer Mid-Year Review shows that between January and June, it took an average of 54.5 days from the discovery of a breach to notify OCR.

A look back at the Breach Barometer report for January shows just how much the situation has improved. In January, there were 31 data breaches disclosed. 40% of those breaches were reported later than the 60-day deadline.

The improvement in breach reporting time is likely due, in part, to the decision by OCR to enter into a settlement agreement with a covered entity for unnecessarily delaying the issuing of a breach report. In January, Presense Health agreed to a $475,000 settlement after delaying the issuing of breach notifications to patients/OCR.

A look at the breach notification letters sent to breach victims by covered entities shows many healthcare organizations are delaying sending notifications until the deadline approaches. It is extremely common for breach notification letters to be sent just a few days before the 60-day deadline is reached.

There are often reasons for delaying the issuing of notifications. Law enforcement may request the issuing of notifications be delayed so as not to interfere with a criminal investigation of the breach. Covered entity may not have all the facts about the breach, or it may not be apparent which individuals have been affected and need to be notified.

However, when affected individuals have been identified, breach notification letters should be sent as soon as possible. Even if notification letters are sent inside the 60-day deadline, a covered entity can still be in violation of the Breach Notification Rule.

At the Allscripts user conference in Chicago, Deven McGraw, deputy director for health information privacy for the HHS Office for Civil Rights, explained that the Breach Notification Rule sets a deadline of 60 days to report a breach and notify patients, but that is not a recommendation. She explained that the HIPAA Breach Notification Rule clearly states notice of a breach must be provided “without unreasonable delay”.

McGraw said, “You can be in violation of HIPAA Rules if you are sitting on your notification, waiting for those 60 days.”

No organization wants to have to notify patients or health plan members that their protected health information has been exposed or stolen, but it is essential that notifications are issued promptly to reduce the harm caused.

Back in January, then OCR Director Jocelyn Samuels explained the reason why breach notifications must be issued promptly when the settlement with Presense Health was announced. “Individuals need prompt notice of a breach of their unsecured PHI so they can take action that could help mitigate any potential harm caused by the breach.”

The more an organization delays the sending of breach notifications, the greater the potential for patients and plan members to suffer financial losses as a result of the breach.

The post Delaying Breach Notifications is a Violation of the Breach Notification Rule appeared first on HIPAA Journal.

Protenus Provides Insight into 2017 Healthcare Data Breach Trends

Posted by HIPAA Journal

Protenus, in conjunction with Databreaches.net, has produced its Breach Barometer mid-year review. The report covers all healthcare data breaches reported over the past 6 months and provides valuable insights into 2017 data breach trends.

The Breach Barometer is a comprehensive review of healthcare data breaches, covering not only the data breaches reported through the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights’ breach reporting tool, but also media reports of incidents and public findings. Prior to inclusion in the report, all breaches are independently confirmed by databreaches.net. The Breach Barometer reports delve into the main causes of data breaches reported by healthcare providers, health plans and their business associates.

In a webinar on Wednesday, Protenus Co-Founder and president Robert Lord and Dissent of databreaches.net discussed the findings of the mid-year review.

Lord explained that between January and June 2017 there have been 233 reported data breaches. Those breaches have impacted 3,159,236 patients. The largest reported breach in the first half of the year resulted in the theft of 697,800 records and was caused by a rogue insider – one of 96 incidents involving insiders.

Out of those 96 incidents, 57 were due to insider error – 423,000 records – and 36 incidents due to insider wrongdoing –743,665 records. The remaining three breaches could not be classified.

Insider incidents are likely to be far higher than the figures in the Breach Barometer report. Dissent explained that many incidents are not being disclosed publicly or reported to HHS. One of the best examples being misconfigured MongoDB databases. Dissent explained that many organizations have not reported that protected health information has been exposed online, even though security researchers have discovered data could be accessed, without authentication, via the Internet. When these incidents are reported, they are often reported to HHS as hacking incidents, even though the root cause is human error.

The first six months of the year saw 75 hacking incidents and 29 ransomware incidents reported. As was explained, ransomware incidents are similarly underreported, even though OCR has made it clear that ransomware attacks are reportable breaches. The true figure is likely to be far worse.

The breakdown for the year was 41% of incidents caused by insiders, 32% due to hacking, 18% due to loss/theft of records and devices and the cause of 9% of the breaches is still unknown.

Hacking may be the second biggest cause of breaches, but hacking has resulted in the exposure/theft of the most records. 1,684,904 records were exposed/stolen as a result of hacking, 1,166,674 records were exposed/stolen by insiders, 112,302 records exposed due to theft/loss and 178,420 records exposed in incidents with unknown causes.

To put the figures into perspective, between January and December 2016 there were 450 incidents reported. Data breaches have been occurring at a similar rate to last year. While the number of reported incidents has remained fairly constant, there has been an increase in the severity of those breaches with this year likely to see far more individuals impacted by breaches than last year.

Last year, approximately 2 million patients were affected by insider incidents. This year, 1.17 million individuals have already been impacted by insider incidents. Hacking incidents are also up. Last year there were 120 confirmed hacking incidents for the entire year. This year there have already been 75 reported incidents.

In June, 52 healthcare data breaches were reported, the highest total for any month of the year to date by some distance. The second biggest monthly breach total was 39 incidents. June also saw the third highest number of individuals impacted by the breaches, with 729,930 records confirmed as exposed or stolen.

Robert Lord explained that the time from the initial breach date to discovery is particularly bad in the healthcare industry. The mean time to discover a breach was 325.6 days, with a median of 53 days. Healthcare organizations are not discovering breaches quickly enough. Fast detection can greatly reduce the harm caused to patients, and as the Ponemon Institute has shown, also the cost of mitigation.

There is some good news however. The time taken to report breaches to OCR has improved over the past 6 months. The mean time to report breaches is 54.5 days and the median 57 days. HIPAA allows 60 days to report data breaches and notify affected individuals. In June, both the mean and the median were under the maximum time frame allowed by the HIPAA Breach Notification Rule.

So, what does the rest of 2017 has in store? Dissent explained that 2017 has been a “no good, horrible, very bad year.” Unfortunately, there is no indication that the rest of the year will be any better. The next six months are likely to be just as bad, and 2017 may surpass last year for both the number of breaches and the number of patients impacted by those incidents.

While other industry sectors have hacking/malware as the main breach cause, insider incidents are the biggest problem for the healthcare industry. Healthcare organizations need to take steps to prevent these breaches. As Robert Lord explained, technologies can be deployed to help prevent insider incidents and detect them promptly when they occur.

One of the most important take home messages from the report is that people’s lives are seriously affected by healthcare data breaches. More must be done to prevent breaches and ensure they are detected promptly. Fast detection and notification allows patients and health plan members to take action to reduce the harm caused.

The post Protenus Provides Insight into 2017 Healthcare Data Breach Trends appeared first on HIPAA Journal.