Erin McCann, Associate Editor
Erin McCann is Associate Editor at Healthcare IT News. She covers physician practices, ambulatory care and social media in healthcare. Follow Erin on Twitter @EMcCannHITN
Top 5: Data breach winners and losers by state
September 13, 2012
In an epoch of Web hackers, procedural slackers, unauthorized users and viewers, PC pinchers and server swindlers, it’s a hard knock life for patient privacy.
Nearly 20 million patient health records have been compromised since the Aug. 2009 Breach Notification Rule, which requires that HIPAA-covered groups give notification following a data breach involving 500 or more individuals. And breach numbers haven't shown signs of waning any time soon.
[See also: 10 of the largest data breaches in 2012 ... so far.]
In fact, according to a 2011 Redspin report, which collected data from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the total number of records breached jumped 97 percent within a single year. Moreover, according to some reports, data breaches can cost the healthcare industry, on average, $6.5 billion annually.
Such alarming numbers, together with the indiscriminate nature of breaches, means privacy is a luxury these days. This luxury, however, is not one typically bought or afforded, but rather one where you cross your fingers and hope for the best.
So who are the biggest offenders by state?
Generally, states with the highest population have the highest number of data breaches. For instance, California and Texas top the list, banking the highest number of data breaches in the nation. However, when population is taken into consideration, the numbers change substantially.
Using data from the HHS, here are the best and the worst states in terms of number of records breach per 1,000 people.
[See also: Slideshow: 10 biggest HIPAA data breaches in the United States ]
Blacklisted: Top 5 states with the highest number of data breaches |
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1. Virginia – 607 data breaches per 1,000 people Although only having seven data breaches since the 2009 Breach Notification Rule, health organizations in Virginia have compromised the privacy and security of some 4,919,457 individuals. That’s more than half of the state’s population, which the U.S. Census Bureau has pegged at 8,096,604. Responsible for the bulk of that is the TRICARE Management Activity breach, which occurred Sept. 14, 2011. This single breach compromised the personal health information (PHI) of nearly 5 million people, effectively catapulting Virginia to the top of the list. |
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2. Utah – 279 data breaches per 1,000 people |
TomMariner say: Equal time
I missed the part in the article that stated the exact numbers of patients helped by having electronic records rather than those green folders with the numbers. And also missed the citing of the exact physical and monetary harm that was caused by the "breaches".
Not to diminish the importants of confidentiality of patient health records, but if we are to dramatically feature slackers, hackers, and offenders, isn't anybody going to consider that if you give out draconian fines for not knowing if a hearing aid record was ever looked at, but do not care how a single electronic record was used to improve outcomes for a patient or a medical professional, that we will all abandon our technology to the lawyers and go back to the green folders?
How about equal time for the great news of Health IT rather than papering the wall with easy numbers from the government. Or we could just go back to repeating every imaging study, lab test and reexamining every patient.