Five regional hospitals in Ontario, Canada, experienced service disruptions after a cyber attack on a shared service provider [423d9eb3]. The hospitals had to reschedule or cancel appointments and divert non-emergency patients to other facilities. The impacted hospitals represent half of all healthcare facilities in the area, with a total bed capacity of 1,250. The nature, scope, and cause of the cyber attack have not been disclosed, and it is unclear if patient information was compromised. The shared service provider has engaged third-party cybersecurity experts and initiated an investigation with Canadian law enforcement authorities. Healthcare data breaches are costly, with an average cost of $10.93 million compared to the industry-wide average of $4.45 million. The use of advanced technologies like AI has increased the security challenges faced by healthcare providers [423d9eb3].
A recent survey conducted by cybersecurity firm Sophos has revealed that healthcare organizations are struggling with ransomware attacks, with only 24% able to disrupt an attack before data encryption [49922ecd]. Another survey by Experian Health found that 90% of health systems face high turnover rates in revenue cycle management and patient experience roles. Additionally, the Clinician of the Future 2023 report from Elsevier showed that over 60% of medical students believe AI will become integral to clinical care [49922ecd].
The American Hospital Association (AHA) is urging federal lawmakers to intervene with the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) so that hospitals and health systems can continue to use online tracking pixels on their websites. A study found that the vast majority of health care and telehealth websites are collecting data via trackers and transferring it without consent from the users. An August cyberattack at three Prospect Medical Holdings hospitals in Connecticut was far more debilitating than hospital officials publicly acknowledged. New York-based Westchester Medical Center Health Network was forced to divert ambulances following a cyberattack that forced it to take all its connected IT systems offline. Ransomware attacks on health care organizations in the U.S. since 2016 have cost the economy around $77.5 billion in downtime alone. The FBI is warning that cybercriminals are targeting plastic surgery offices and plastic surgeons in an effort to harvest personally identifiable information and sensitive medical records, including photographs. Nearly three-quarters of U.S. consumers are worried about the potential misuse of their health information by external entities. The Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and HHS have released a cybersecurity toolkit that includes resources tailored for the health care and public health sector. [c695def9]
Ransomware attacks in the healthcare sector have resulted in significant financial losses for companies in Vermont, Illinois, and Massachusetts. The U.S. economy has suffered over $77 billion in damages due to these attacks. The downtime and repair costs associated with these cyberattacks have led to closures and severe disruptions for healthcare organizations. The article highlights the impact of cyberattacks on the healthcare industry and emphasizes the need for robust cybersecurity measures to mitigate these risks. [480ed96f]