Breaches hit hard

Breaches in the news this week affected more than two million people. From hackers to employee errors, it seems that breaches have only increased lately.

About 1.3 million people’s health information is at risk after hackers gained entry to Montana’s Department of Public Health and Human Services' (DPHHS') computer server.

Data at risk include demographic information, such as names, addresses, dates of birth and Social Security numbers. The server may also have included information regarding DPHHS services clients applied for and/or received, according to the statement.

And, a New York radiology practice has informed 97,000 patients that an employee had unauthorized access to their protected health information.

The employee radiologist of NRAD Medical Associates accessed and acquired the information from NRAD’s billing systems, including patient names and addresses, dates of birth, Social Security numbers and health insurance, diagnosis codes and procedure codes.

Is your organization working effectively to prevent a similar breach?

Beth Walsh

Clinical Innovation + Technology editor

Beth Walsh,

Editor

Editor Beth earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and master’s in health communication. She has worked in hospital, academic and publishing settings over the past 20 years. Beth joined TriMed in 2005, as editor of CMIO and Clinical Innovation + Technology. When not covering all things related to health IT, she spends time with her husband and three children.

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