Patient privacy continues to make headlines in the news signifying an epidemic in security breaches in healthcare organizations increasing over 32%in the past year costing an estimated 6.5 billion annually according to a recent study by Ponemon Institute. On Wednesday, a class action suit has been filed seeking as much as 16 million in damages for a data security breach involving the electronic medical records of 16,000 patients at the UCLA Health System stemming from a stolen physician’s external hard drive during a home invasion of his residence.
Last month, officials at Lawrence Memorial Hospital are anticipating a federal investigation that could result in a 25k fine after an online security breach potentially compromised 8,000 patients’ financial information.
With the increasing trend of security breaches, the following infographic poses the question, “protecting patient privacy-how important is it?” When do you think healthcare organizations will make protecting patient privacy a priority?
