Healthcare Execs Report Rise in Data Breaches and HIPAA Violations

A survey of IT healthcare executives found that 47% have suffered a data breach or violation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) at their organization this year, compared to 37% in 2015.

Even so, 35% of the 100 IT healthcare executives believe they are "completely ready" to offset a threat, compared to 16% in 2015, according to the KPMG 2017 Cyber Healthcare & Life Sciences Survey released today.

Boards of directors, meanwhile, show a declining interest in cybersecurity, according to the survey. The report found 79% are putting cybersecurity as a board agenda item on the list at meetings, down from 87% in 2015. Healthcare companies are also spending less on cybersecurity, with 66% indicating they made investments in this area in the past 12 months – down from 88% in 2015.

"There needs to be a higher degree of vigilance among boards and executive suites as attacks become much more sophisticated, especially as doctors need to share information to improve quality and as connected medical devices and wearables proliferate," KPMG's Healthcare Advisory Leader Dion Sheidy says in a statement. "The WannaCry ransomware hack in May was a warning shot against our collective ability to protect patient safety and privacy."

Read more about the survey here.