The top ten data breaches within the healthcare industry in 2016 were caused primarily by cybersecurity attacks such as ransomware and unauthorized access.
In 2016, approximately 300 data breach incidents were reported to the Office for Civil Rights, among which 95 were caused by an IT-related or hacking occurrence and 125 stemmed from unauthorized access or disclosure. Theft of devices or records caused 58 of the reported breaches, while 16 were accredited to loss and seven to improper disposal.
HealthITSecurity's published their annual countdown of 2016's top ten data breaches in the healthcare industry:
10. Premier Healthcare, LLC
9. Central Ohio Urology Group, Inc.
8. California Correctional Health Care Services
7. Radiology Regional Center, PA
6. Peachtree Orthopaedic Clinic
5. Bon Secours Health System Incorporated
4. Valley Anesthesiology and Pain Consultants
3. 21st Century Oncology
2. Newkirk Products, Inc.
1. Banner Health
One of the largest healthcare data breaches of 2015 was the Excellus data breach, which compromised the personal health information of over 10 million people.
An Excellus class-action lawsuit, which was co-lead by Faraci Lange's Hadley Matarazzo, alleged that the company failed to protect customer information, waited too long to tell customers about the breach, and did not give customers adequate information about how to protect themselves in the wake of the breach.
Learn more about the Excellus data breach lawsuit here.
