Medical data breach

A medical data breach is a data breach of health information, and could include either the personal health information of any individual's electronic health record or medical billing information from their health insurance. In the United States the rate of breaches has increased over time, with 176 million records breached by the end of 2017.[1][2]

Black market for health data

In February 2015 an NPR report claimed that organized crime networks had ways of selling health data in the black market.[3]

In 2015 a Beazley Group staffperson estimated that medical records could sell on the black market for US$40-50.[4]

Crime is the primary cause of medical data breaches.[5]

How data is lost

Theft, data loss, hacking, and unauthorized account access are ways in which medical data breaches happen.[6] Among reported breaches of medical information in the United States networked information systems accounted for the largest number of records breached.[2]

List of data breaches
  • In October 2018, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in the US reported that around 75,000 individual records had been affected by a data breach that took place through the ACA Agent and Broker Portal.[7]
  • In 2018, Social Indicators Research published the scientific evidence of 173,398,820 (over 173 million) individuals affected in USA from October 2008 (when the data were collected) to September 2017 (when the statistical analysis took place).[8]
  • In 2015, Anthem Inc. lost data for 37 million people in the Anthem medical data breach
  • In 2014 4.5 million people using Complete Health Systems had their data stolen[9]
  • In 2013-14 1 million people using Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services had their data stolen[9]
  • In 2013 4 million people using Advocate Health and Hospitals Corporation had their data stolen[9]
  • In 2011 4.9 million users of Tricare services had their data stolen due to an employee error by Science Applications International Corporation[9]
  • In 2011 1.9 million people using Health Net had their data stolen[9]
  • In 2011 1 million people using Nemours Foundation had their data stolen[9]
  • In 2010 6800 people using New York-Presbyterian Hospital and Columbia University Medical Center had their data breached. In response, those organizations agreed to pay the United States Department of Health and Human Services a US$4.8 million dollar fine.[10]
  • In 2009 1 million people using BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee had their data stolen[9]

Regulation

In the United States, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act require companies to report data breaches to affected individuals and the federal government.[11]

See also
  • Computer security § Medical systems

References
  1. Liu, Vincent; Musen, Mark A.; Chou, Timothy (2015-04-14). "Data breaches of protected health information in the United States". JAMA. 313 (14): 1471–1473. doi:10.1001/jama.2015.2252. ISSN 1538-3598. PMC 4479128. PMID 25871675.
  2. McCoy, Thomas H.; Perlis, Roy H. (September 25, 2018). "Temporal Trends and Characteristics of Reportable Health Data Breaches, 2010-2017". JAMA. 320 (12): 1282–1284. doi:10.1001/jama.2018.9222. ISSN 1538-3598. PMC 6233611. PMID 30264106.
  3. Shahani, Aarti (13 February 2015). "The Black Market For Stolen Health Care Data : All Tech Considered : NPR". npr.org. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
  4. Abelson, Reed; Goldstein, Matthew (5 February 2015). "Anthem Hacking Points to Security Vulnerability of Health Care Industry". The New York Times. New York: NYTC. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
  5. Richards, Robbie (16 November 2015). "Healthcare data breaches present a $6 billion threat". royaljay.com. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  6. Millman, Jason (19 August 2014). "Health care data breaches have hit 30M patients and counting". The Washington Post. Washington DC: WPC. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
  7. "CMS Reports Data Breach in ACA Agent and Broker Portal". www.ajmc.com.
  8. Koczkodaj, Waldemar W.; Mazurek, Mirosław; Strzałka, Dominik; Wolny-Dominiak, Alicja; Woodbury-Smith, Marc (2018). "Electronic Health Record Breaches as Social Indicators". Social Indicators Research. doi:10.1007/s11205-018-1837-z.
  9. Fischer, Kristen (28 September 2014). "The 7 Biggest Health Data Breaches in the US (So Far)". healthline.com. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
  10. "Columbia Medical Center, Hospital To Pay $4.8M Fine for Data Breach". iHealthBeat. California HealthCare Foundation. 8 May 2014. Archived from the original on 7 February 2016. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
  11. Office of Civil Rights (26 July 2013). "Breach Notification Rule". U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.

Further reading
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