Cybersecurity

In 2020, 527 healthcare organizations reported to HHS more than 21 million individuals being affected by data breaches.

More than a million patients' information was exposed this year when a hacker gained access to Mednax business email accounts.

Here are the healthcare provider malware, ransomware and phishing incidents Becker's Hospital Review reported on in December:

The Office for Civil Rights issued its 13th settlement Dec. 22 for its HIPAA Right of Access Initiative.

An email hack at EyeMed, a company that health plans contract with to provide vision benefits, led to a data breach that affected at least 484,157 Aetna members and more than a thousand BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee members.

A Seattle-based surgical practice reported Dec. 23 a data security incident that affected patient payment information earlier this year.

A Rangely, Colo.-based hospital revealed it took six months to recover from a ransomware attack earlier this year.

Burlington, Vt.-based UVM Medical Center revealed the cybersecurity incident it suffered in October was a ransomware attack, but the health system didn't pay, according to a report in the Burlington Free Press.

TennCare, Tennessee's state Medicaid health plan, recently notified 3,300 members that their protected health information may have been exposed due to a misaddressed mailing incident on behalf of its vendor, according to a Dec. 21 WKRN report. 

HHS issued new guidance on HIPAA to allow health information exchanges to share protected health information for public health purposes.