"The healthcare industry, by far, will be the most susceptible to publicly disclosed and widely scrutinized data breaches in 2014," according to a recent report from Experian.
The report cites three reasons why the number of healthcare data breaches will continue to increase in 2014 and beyond.
1. Industry size. Americans spent about $9,210 per capita on healthcare in 2013, according to the report. This figure will grow as millions more newly insured patients enter the system under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Healthcare will continue to have a large "attack surface" for breaches, according to the report.
2. New regulations. The HIPAA Omnibus Rule, which officially went into effect Sept. 23, 2013, will continue broaden the definition of what incidents must be considered breaches for reporting purposes, including those in which there is no evidence of patient harm.
3. Lack of resources. As more healthcare information is transmitted electronically, many physicians' offices and other smaller organizations do not have the resources to devote to proper data protection.
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