Cybersecurity news for hospitals and health systems

Several health systems have reported data breach incidents that have compromised patient data and IT systems during July. 

More than half of healthcare organizations have been targeted by hackers in the past year, with most organizations feeling ill-prepared for such attacks, according to a survey from digital security company SecureLink.

The HHS Office for Civil Rights data breach portal showed that there have been 337 healthcare data breaches impacting more than 500 individuals each in the first half of 2022, according to healthcare cybersecurity Fortified Health Security's mid-year report. 

Primary care practice Benson (N.C.) Health has provided notice of a cyberattack involving an unauthorized party trying to access Benson Health's network.

Toledo, Ohio-based ProMedica reported that an email that was misrouted in May exposed the protected health information of 1,178 patients, according to WTVG 13, an ABC affiliate.

The federal government recovered $500,000 that two hospitals paid as ransom to North Korean hackers and plans to return the funds, according to a July 19 U.S. Justice Department statement.

St. Louis-based BJC HealthCare agreed to a class action lawsuit settlement to resolve allegations that its poor cybersecurity led to a May 2020 phishing attack that compromised sensitive patient data. 

An iPad with protected health information was stolen from Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center in May, according to a July 17 report from City News Service of Southern California.

Washington, D.C.-based Foxhall OB/GYN Associates accused Sharon Malone, MD, a former owner and physician at the practice, of taking patient information with her when she exited the practice to join telehealth startup Alloy, The Washington Examiner reported July 14.

Platteville, Wis.-based healthcare provider Southwest Health Center informed patients and current and former employees that their personal data may have been accessed in a data security incident.