This year will likely experience more healthcare data breaches than 2016, which averaged one data breach per day, according to a Protenus report.
The mid-year report, part of the "Protenus Breach Barometer" monthly series, analyzed healthcare breaches reported to HHS or disclosed to the media from January until the end of June, based on data compiled by databreaches.net.
Here are seven things to know.
1. There were 233 breaches reported during the first half of 2017, affecting 1.2 million patient records. By year-end 2016 there were 450 breaches, compromising 2 million patient records.
2. The largest single breach affected 697,800 patients from Bowling Green, Ky.- based Med Center Health, whose records were stolen by a former employee.
3. The two most common causes of breaches were hacking (53 percent) and insider wrongdoing or error (41 percent).
4. Eighty percent of data breaches in the first and second quarters were reported by healthcare providers, as opposed to health plans (11 percent) or third-party vendors (6 percent).
5. It took organizations an average of 325.6 days to discover a breach
6. On average, organizations reported a breach to HHS 54.5 days after discovery.
7. Forty-four states were responsible for the 233 health breach incidents, with California reporting the most breaches (28), followed by Texas (22).
"Health data protection needs to be a top priority for healthcare organizations — keeping their institution out of the headlines, limiting a breach's impact and ultimately increasing patient trust in the organizations where they seek care," concludes the report.
Click here to view the full report.
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