While urban hospitals are more likely to experience a ransomware attack, their rural counterparts may be more vulnerable to the negative repercussions.
That's according to a study led by Minneapolis-based University of Minnesota School of Public Health that found rural residents had to travel farther when their local hospital was disrupted by a cyberattack, more than 30 minutes compared to less than 10 for urban patients. Rural hospitals struck with ransomware have also been less likely to be part of a large health system.
"Ransomware attacks are bad news for hospitals and patients no matter where they happen, but they're especially harmful to rural hospitals and patients," said lead author Hannah Neprash, PhD, an associate professor at University of Minnesota School of Public Health, in an Aug. 28 statement. "Preparing for cyberattacks is really a coordination challenge since it would likely require cooperation across hospitals that usually compete with each other in order to ensure everyone gets safe and effective care."
Rural hospitals are also typically financially vulnerable, leaving them under-resourced in cybersecurity and on the receiving end of outsized economic hits from cyberattacks, the researchers found. The March study in the Journal of Rural Health compared 43 rural hospitals and 117 urban hospitals that endured ransomware attacks between 2016 and 2021.