A recent study found that the average total cost of a healthcare breach is $10.10 million. Could your health care practice be in violation?
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Could your health care practice be in violation? Most healthcare entities cannot.
Since 2020, healthcare breach costs have increased by 42%.
As we know health care abuses don’t stop, it’s important to understand the trends.
Trends that have emerged over the last few years are:
- Repeat attack. Many healthcare entities have seen repeated attacks. Organizations with automated security systems can shorten the life cycle of a breach and reduce the damage caused by the breach.
- Consistent cause. The most common causes of data breaches are stolen credentials. Ransomware also continues to plague health entities, with ransomware increasing by 41% in the last year.
- Consistent place. The most common place for data breaches to occur is in the cloud.
While data breaches can be threatening, there are also good trends that have emerged over the past few years. This includes:
- Automated security shortens the breach life cycle. If possible, make sure your updates are automatic and all security patches are up to date. Having adequate security measures in place is your first line of defense against cyber attacks or breaches.
- Shorter breach life cycles mean lower costs. The quicker your practice can audit damages and get up and running after a breach, the less it will cost you for the breach.
- Having appropriate policies and procedures with trained employees will result in a shorter life cycle. When your staff knows how to handle a breach, they can act quickly and reduce the damage caused by the breach. This is important when trying to get your practice back online and keep your patient’s protected health information unaffected.
So how can you protect your practice?
- Work with your health attorney to ensure that your HIPAA risk assessment is up to date and your safety measures are adequate.
- Test your breach readiness plan frequently.
- Make sure your policies and procedures clearly detail how to proceed in the event of a violation.
- Train your employees. We help our clients train their employees to know what to look for and what steps to take to respond promptly to violations.
If you have questions or need assistance regarding health care breach preparedness and response or HIPAA risk assessment, contact Rickard & Associates today.
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