Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Lisa Rivera discussed the financial implications associated with a data breach in the healthcare industry in an article published by Healthcare Finance News. Because of the sensitive and personal nature of healthcare data, this type of information is very valuable on the dark web, so healthcare companies are under constant cyberattacks. As Lisa points out, she has read “estimates of over $5 billion in costs to the healthcare industry annually. That’s enormous and is not going away.” According to the article, a healthcare breach can cost around $408 per patient record – that figure does not take into account the loss of business, productivity, reputation and service disruption.
While there is no foolproof way to guard against a breach, Lisa says, “There is no perfect cybersecurity. They say it’s not perfection, it’s reasonable efforts. That’s going to require an investment up-front to see where data is located, and educating the workforce on phishing incidents.”
The full article, “Healthcare’s Number One Financial Issue is Cybersecurity,” was published by Healthcare Finance News on July 30, 2019, and is available online. Lisa’s quotes were also cited in the following articles:
- “Costs of Data Breaches Growing Across Health Care Industry” ACA International (August 13, 2019)
- “Close to One-Third of Healthcare Employees Have Never Received Cybersecurity Training, Report Shows,” Healthcare Finance News (August 20, 2019)
- “Cyber Security Best Practices Protect Vital Patient Data,” The World Beast (October 2, 2019)