CHART REVIEW - Health Care Data Breaches

Ryan Haygood, Health Care Policy Intern

Electronic Health Records (EHR) have rapidly displaced traditional pen-and-paper documentation over the last decade. To date, the U.S. government has spent over $35 billion to incentivize EHR uptake and imposed Meaningful Use Requirements. As a result, today nearly all hospitals and some 9 in 10 office-based physicians use an electronic system. Full integration of interoperable EHR systems promises huge savings—over 2 percent of total health care spending, according to one estimate—but the increasing prevalence of EHR has also contributed to growing rates of health care data breaches. These breaches threaten patient privacy and may cost compromised hospitals $15 million per breach—nearly double the average cost in other industries. The typical breach size is projected to rise 70 percent this year, commensurate with the projected growth in the number of hacking-related breaches, which typically jeopardize many more patient records than theft and negligent loss.

Data are from the Department of Health & Human Services; 2019 estimate is a modified projection through the end of the year.

https://www.americanactionforum.org/weekly-checkup/the-sound-and-fury-on-drug-importation/#ixzz5vpgsEruo
Follow @AAF on Twitter