Healthcare organisations in the U.S. are responding to federal enforcement by reporting data breaches within 60 days of discovery, according to the Protenus Breach Barometer report. In April, it took organisations an average of 51 days to discover a breach occurred and 59 days to report it to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Nearly two-thirds of organisations reported the breach within the 60-day time frame.
It will be recalled that in March HHS stepped up their enforcement by beginning to fine healthcare organisations not reporting health data breaches within the required 60-day window. “It begs one to ask if healthcare organisations are becoming more diligent in responding and reporting breaches to patient data as a result of this regulatory scrutiny,” the report stated.
A total of 34 data breaches were recorded in April, slightly lower than the previous month's tally of 39 attacks. Approximately half were a result of hacking and most of the attacks were against healthcare providers.
The report comes a week after the healthcare industry faced down a global ransomware attack that shut down parts of the National Health Service in the UK and left experts concerned that the next attack could have even more implications for patient care.
According to healthcare security experts, data breaches are “significantly underreported” even though cybersecurity has emerged as a top concern for hospital and health plan executives.
Source: Fierce Healthcare
Image Credit: Pixabay
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reporting, cybersecurity, Health Data Breaches
Healthcare organisations in the U.S. are responding to federal enforcement by reporting data breaches within 60 days of discovery, according to the Protenus Breach Barometer report.
