HIPAA-covered entities and business associates reported 25 healthcare record breaches in February, constituting a 19 percent month-over-month increase, according to HIPAA Journal.
A hacking incident at Albany, N.Y.-based St. Peter’s Surgery & Endoscopy Center that affected 134,512 individuals comprised 43.6 percent of all healthcare records exposed in February.
Here are 16 statistics on healthcare data breaches in February.
Number of records exposed in top five largest breaches
1. St. Peter’s Surgery & Endoscopy Center: 134,512
2. Tufts Associated Health Maintenance Organization (Watertown, Mass.): 70,320
3. Triple-S Advantage (San Juan, Puerto Rico): 36,305
4. CarePlus Health Plan (Miami): 11,248
5. Union Lake Supermarket: 9,956
Main causes of reported breaches
6. Unauthorized access/disclosure: 12
7. Hacking/IT incident: 9
8. Theft: 2
9. Loss: 1
10. Improper disposal: 1
Breaches by covered entity
11. Healthcare provider: 15
12. Health plan: 8
13. Business associate: 2
Records exposed by entity type
14. Healthcare provider: 137,586
15. Health plan: 166,862
16. Business associate: 4,332