HIPAA Secure Texting

Secure Messaging Trends: Cyberattack Now Leading Cause of HIPAA Violations

February 11, 2016 | Uniphy Health

Within the past year, reported incidences of sensitive patient data breaches due to cyberattack has become more prominent. As EMRs and patient portals become essential to care delivery, healthcare organizations must deploy HIPAA secure mobile technologies and mandate rigorous PHI protection procedures.

 

New research on rising data breaches is demonstrating a need for digital health apps to protect sensitive patient data.

  • 1 in 3 Americans’ health records were exposed in just one year. Last year, 100M+ patient health records were compromised. Cyberattacks have become more common and wide-sweeping. (Source: Health IT Security)
  • The HHS Office of Civil Rights received more than 255 data breaches, 90% of which were caused by IT hacking and cyber attacks. It is incumbent on healthcare organizations to be more alert when it comes to data security management. (Source: Becker’s Health IT)

 

The majority of healthcare organizations are still finding it challenging to safeguard patient data and meet patients’ demands. Many hospitals are investing in mHealth apps with secure messaging capabilities in order to ensure safeguard PHI.

  • Survey respondents’ from HealthITSecurity.com report their top concerns being compromised by data breaches, and establishing technical and administrative safeguards in preparation of HIPAA audits. When it came to securing their mobile infrastructure, their security measures varied. (Source: Health IT Security)
  • 126 mHealth and finance apps were reviewed, and 90 percent of them tested to have at least two of the Open Web Application Security Project’s Mobile Top 10 Risks. Surveyed consumers also indicated an increased willingness to change their mHealth app, and sometimes provider, if they knew the app was not secure. (Source: Healthcare Informatics)

Each year, the ramifications associated with breaching patient confidentiality are becoming more severe. Penalty costs associated with HIPAA violations are rising, while new tools that enable patients to easily review privacy violations, breaches and complaints against healthcare organizations are being released. Bearing this heightened visibility in mind, healthcare organizations are transitioning their clinical staff to HIPAA secure mobile apps and more aggressively adopting patient data privacy procedures.