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May 22, 2020 10:23 AM

Nearly 446,000 patients affected in April-reported breaches

Jessica Kim Cohen
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    Modern Healthcare Illustration / Getty Images

    Healthcare providers, insurers and their business associates reported 38 breaches affecting nearly 446,000 patients to the federal government last month.

    That's down 55.8% from the number of patients affected in breaches reported in April of last year, when organizations reported 50 breaches affecting just over 1 million people, according to data from the HHS' Office for Civil Rights, the agency that maintains the government's database of healthcare breaches.

    In March 2020, organizations reported 39 breaches that exposed data on more than 834,000 people.

    HHS gives HIPAA-covered entities 60 days from when they discover a breach to notify the department. That means many of the incidents reported to the OCR in April were discovered in February, and may have taken place even earlier—so April numbers likely don't include the recent rise in coronavirus-related cyberattacks that healthcare organizations have reportedly seen.

    Two organizations reported incidents that affected more than 100,000 people each, which collectively accounted for roughly half of the 446,000 patients affected in breaches reported last month.

    Beaumont Health on April 17 reported the breach with the largest number of individuals affected last month, after discovering some employee email accounts—which included health information of up to 112,211 patients—had been accessed by an unauthorized individual in May 2019 and June 2019. The Michigan system discovered the breach March 29.

    Beaumont said it's found no evidence to suggest that the health information has been misused.

    Meridian Health Services Corp. in Indiana reported the second-largest breach of the month on April 27, which also involved unauthorized access to some employee email accounts. Meridian discovered the breach, which took place in December 2019, in February. It also said that it's found no evidence to suggest that the information has been misused.

    Hacking and IT incidents like those at Beaumont and Meridian accounted for half of the 38 breaches submitted to the OCR in April. The remaining breaches resulted from loss, theft, and unauthorized access or disclosure.

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    • News
      • Current News
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      • ESG
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      • Regional News
        • Midwest
        • Northeast
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      • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Blogs
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      • From the Editor
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        • Nominate/Eligibility
        • 100 Most Influential People
        • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
        • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
        • Excellence in Governance
        • Health Care Hall of Fame
        • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
        • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
        • Top Innovators
        • Diversity in Healthcare
          • - Luminaries
          • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
          • - Leaders to Watch
        • Women in Healthcare
          • - Luminaries
          • - Top 25 Women Leaders
          • - Women to Watch
      • Conferences
        • Digital Health Transformation Summit
        • ESG: The Implementation Imperative Summit
        • Leadership Symposium
        • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
        • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
      • Galas
        • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
        • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
        • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
        • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
      • Virtual Briefings
        • - Hospital of the Future
        • - Value Based Care
        • - Hospital at Home
        • - Workplace of the Future
        • - AI and Digital Health
        • - Future of Staffing
        • - Hospital of the Future (Fall)
      • Webinars
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      • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
      • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
      • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
      • Sponsored Video Series - Checking In with Dan Peres
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