Billie’s Corner – Rising Incidence of Healthcare Security Breaches

By Billie Whitehurst, CEO

With the number of healthcare data breaches increasing each year, many healthcare leaders are thinking more seriously about this threat and how to prevent it in their own organizations. In 2023, there were more than 144 million stolen or exposed medical records.1 In 2024, as of mid-July, 374 healthcare data breaches were reported to the Health & Human Services Office of Civil Rights (OCR), impacting more than 45 million patients.1 The healthcare industry is a major target because it offers an abundance of financially valuable personal information. The most common breach types in healthcare are hacking and ransomware; incidences of both have risen by more than 250% over the last five years, as reported by the OCR.2

More Opportunities for Healthcare Data Breaches

The rise in interconnected systems and push for interoperability inevitably creates more opportunities for hackers to find ways to breach systems. As such, it becomes vitally important that healthcare organizations and their laboratories remain vigilant with sensitive patient data. This vigilance includes having a strong disaster recovery plan and ensuring their systems are deployed in secure environments.

Consider a Cloud Deployment to Improve System Security

Consider the benefits of a cloud-hosted LIS. Orchard Cloud Services uses the latest advancements in security and data integrity to improve system reliability and business continuity. Any Orchard solution can be deployed in a cloud environment. Orchard’s cloud-based deployments also accelerate implementation times and improve overall security and compliance.

Our fully redundant data centers are designed to protect and secure critical applications with redundancy throughout the production infrastructure. Our cloud services include security auditing and intrusion protection, vulnerability scans, and virus monitoring, dramatically lowering the risk of security breaches. We offer prescribed disaster recovery plans that allow you to keep patient data secure and meet business continuity goals—with a 99.9% uptime guarantee backed by a Service Level Agreement (SLA).

If you are considering moving your LIS to the cloud, feel free to reach out to your Account Manager. We also have a short webinar that you might like, Reduce Security Worries When You Host Your LIS in the Cloud.

References

  1. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights Breach Portal: Notice to the Secretary of HHS Breach of Unsecured Protected Health Information. Accessed at: https://ocrportal.hhs.gov/ocr/breach/breach_report.jsf.
  2. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. HHS Office for Civil Rights Issues Letter and Opens Investigation of Change Healthcare Cyberattack. Accessed at: https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2024/03/13/hhs-office-civil-rights-issues-letter-opens-investigation-change-healthcare-cyberattack.html.

Highlighted Articles

Learn More About Orchard Enterprise

Orchard Software is proud to offer a comprehensive, enterprise laboratory information system (LIS) solution that provides the scalability that laboratories require to manage large volumes of laboratory testing across multiple laboratories and departments. Orchard Enterprise enables labs to streamline processes, promote provider and staff confidence, and be in a position to succeed and grow.

Tulsa Medical Laboratory Partners with Orchard Software for Significant ROI

Tulsa Medical Laboratory (TML) is a CAP-accredited, independently owned anatomic pathology group that offers a full range of diagnostic services for its clients in Northeastern Oklahoma. TML implemented Orchard® Enterprise Pathology™ (OEP) as a replacement for an outdated anatomic pathology laboratory information system (APLIS) that the lab had used for more than 20 years.

Where in the World Is Orchy?

Those following Orchy's travels for a while know that he is a fan of touring locations that host the Olympics. On a trip a few years ago, he visited one of the most popular tourist attractions in the world, which is being used to host the equestrian competition for the 2024 Summer Olympics. Use the link below to guess where Orchy is and be registered in the drawing for an Orchard prize pack.

leafs textures

Subscribe to Orchard's Newsletter

Keep up with the latest news! Sign up today for our quarterly newsletter to read about ongoing Orchard developments (e.g., tech tips, software updates, etc.), plus relevant industry-related topics.