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According to HHS data, more than a third of all data breaches reported through 2017 involved a laptop, desktop, or mobile device.¹ Compare Cases One and Two, and consider how better security practices protected the covered entity in Case Two.

Employees access PHI for various illegitimate reasons. Including error and misuse, 71% of all cyber incidents in healthcare have an insider source¹— the only industry that has more internal sources than external. Although the following case study involves only one patient, the covered entity was required to complete a data breach analysis and notify the patient and HHS.

Creating mobile device policies can be tricky. Burdensome security policies and strategies that diminish productivity will most likely result in employee workarounds that defeat security efforts.^1,2 Additionally, human error and criminal intent can defeat the best-intentioned employee laptop and storage device security strategies. Despite these difficulties, mobile device policies are a necessary part of a comprehensive information security program to prevent HIPAA data breaches.

The healthcare industry experiences more data breaches (confirmed data disclosure) than any other industry in the United States, accounting for more than 24% of all breaches.¹ In 2017, healthcare data breaches compromised more than 5 million healthcare records² and cost providers an average of $380 per record — more than any other industry and 69% greater than the overall average.

A data breach doesn’t need to be criminal or intentional to be reportable. When a storage device is small, it is sometimes difficult to determine whether the device was lost, misplaced or stolen. However, even if a flash drive is presumably lost, a breach analysis must still be conducted and potentially affected patients must be notified if there is a probability of data compromise.