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As if declining doctors, nursing shortages, and a sense of global burnout weren’t enough to unsettle an already exhausted healthcare industry, cybersecurity breaches are becoming an inevitable disaster for the healthcare system. These violations are now not only more frequent, but also more serious crimes.
Last week, Chicago-based CommonSpirit, the second-largest nonprofit hospital chain in the United States, said its systems rescheduled an important meeting, even forcing some IT systems to shut down until it could be completed. respond to a cyber attack. The hospital system includes more than 140 facilities in nearly 21 states, so it’s easy to imagine the devastating costs, both financial and patient efficiency, caused by this disruption.
CommonSpirit is not the only organization that has faced this devastation in recent years. In highlighting how vulnerable healthcare systems are to cybersecurity, he joins many other healthcare organizations that have faced similar breaches.
As Rick Pollack, president and CEO of the American Hospital Association, wrote in a recent article: According to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the number of data breaches against health care organizations increased by 84% between 2018 and 2021 […] The attacks have different targets and vary in severity. In some cases, cybercriminals steal social security numbers and other personal information. Other breaches pose a direct threat to patient safety by shutting down or compromising medical equipment and systems critical to patient care. ”
