Data Breaches in the News: Why Practices Should Pay Attention
While no practice can 100 percent guarantee against breaches like the ones that have made news in recent days, knowing which are the most common is an important part of prevention.
Last Thursday’s news of a data breach at Stanford Hospital has once again shed light on an ever-growing concern for practices. The incident was particularly alarming because it involved the compromise of data by one of the hospital’s vendor partners.
To rehash the news reports, Stanford Hospital & Clinics in California confirmed that a medical privacy breach caused data on more than 20,000 of its patients to be publicly posted to a commercial website a year ago.
Specifically, a detailed spreadsheet that contained unencrypted information on patients during a six-month period in 2009 (including names, diagnosis codes, care dates, and billing charges) was discovered on a website focused on helping students get help with their schoolwork. And it wasn’t until one year later, on Aug. 22, that a patient discovered and reported it to the hospital.
While no practice can 100 percent guarantee against breaches, knowing which are the most common is a good preventative step practices can take.
According to HHS' “Annual Report to Congress on Breaches of Unsecured Protected Health Information,” 5.4 million people were affected by health-related data breaches in 2010. The biggest culprits were theft, loss of electronic media or paper records containing protected health information; unauthorized access to, use, or disclosure of protected health information; human error; and improper disposal. In comparison to 2009, in 2010, the number of individuals affected by the loss of electronic media or paper records was greater than those affected by unauthorized access or human error.
Recently, we spoke to health IT experts on what practices can do to best arm themselves against these culprits. They gave us lots of advice on e-mail encryption and avoiding the use of shared usernames and passwords for patient files.
As a growing number of physicians adopt electronic health records, practices would be prudent to take these suggestions into account.
We’d like to hear from you. What are you doing to prevent data breaches?
The Role of Third-Party Financing in the Health and Wellness Payment Landscape
April 17th 2025"How patients access and seek out health and wellness care continues to evolve amid growing costs and a changing healthcare landscape – and communication around payment options continues to impact how patients select their provider. In this whitepaper, Synchrony shares new data on the vital role alternative payment options have on patient decisions, and how providers can strengthen their financial offerings. Learning Objectives: • Learn the current trends impacting the ability of in-house financing plans to meet patient demands. • Understand patients’ financing preferences and how it directly impacts behaviors when pursuing care and choosing a provider. • Discover how third-party financing can support practices to meet patients’ needs, help relieve administrative burdens, and stay competitive within an ever-evolving healthcare industry. "
