1.13M Patient Records Breached from January to March 2018

BALTIMORE -- 1,129,744 patient records were breached between January and March 2018, according to new data released today in the Protenus Breach Barometer. Published by Protenus, an artificial intelligence platform used by top health systems to analyze every access to patient data inside the electronic health record (EHR), the Breach Barometer is the industry’s definitive source for health data breach reporting.

In the first quarter of 2018, the average of at least one data breach per day in healthcare continued to hold true with 110 health data breaches. Protenus’ proprietary data found that healthcare insiders were most likely to snoop on their family members (77.10% of privacy violations in Q1 2018). Snooping on fellow co-workers was the second most common insider-wrongdoing violation, followed by snooping on neighbors and VIPs.

To receive the full report, or for more information, please visit: https://protenus.com/breach-barometer-report

The single largest breach disclosed in Q1 2018 was the result of a hacking incident that involved an Oklahoma-based healthcare organization. This breach was the result of an unauthorized third-party that gained access to the health system’s network which stored patient billing information for 279,856 patients.

Protenus data also found that if healthcare employees breach patient privacy once, there is a greater than 20% chance that they will breach privacy again in three months’ time, and a greater than 54% chance they will do it again in a years’ time. This evidence indicates healthcare organizations accumulate risk that compounds over time when proper detection, reporting, and education do not occur.

The Breach Barometer reports that it takes healthcare organizations an alarming average of 244 days to detect a breach once it has occurred. This evidence reinforces the growing need for proactive monitoring of all accesses to patient data, which is quickly becoming a standard best practice for healthcare organizations across the country.

Protenus, which releases the Breach Barometer quarterly, announced this new report at [https://www.pandasconf.com/](the annual PANDAS event) in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 2014, the company helps health systems ensure health data is safe and being used appropriately.