An analysis of the US Health and Human Services data revealed over 40 million Americans’ medical records to be stolen or exposed in 2022. Here’s all about the ongoing problem.
The case of stolen or exposed health data
An analysis of the Health and Human Services data by USA Today revealed over 40 million medical records to be exposed or stolen this year due to vulnerability in electronic systems. Unfortunately, the problem is worsening over the years. The data was first collected between 2010 and 2014. During the period about 50 million Americans’ health data was exposed. However, the number quadrupled in the following five years. breaches in the healthcare and private sector are steadily rising with the aftereffects of the pandemic.
As per US federal law, medical institutions are restricted from sharing patient information. Hospitals, clinics, and insurance firms must take steps for safeguarding health data. However, vulnerabilities are rising as healthcare providers are shifting their storage online and failing to protect the system. As per the analysis, hacking is behind almost half of the data exposed due to security breaches. However, one-third of them are due to employee errors such as accidental disclosures or loss of computers.
More on the healthcare crisis
Exposed health data can be used by bad actors to target and scam victims. Additionally, criminals can also create fraud claims for drug trafficking or selling faulty medical devices. By law, healthcare providers are required to report security breaches to the US Health and Human Services. Using data, the research team created a database that makes searching health care breaches as back as 2009. They also analyzed 13 years of data for a better understanding of vulnerabilities at healthcare institutions across the US.