That’s an astonishing number, given that these hacks accounted for almost 502 million healthcare records in a country with a population of 330 million. This is no longer an issue that can be ignored. 

Legislations are being passed around the world to increase the penalties for breaches. A breach puts providers under regulatory scrutiny, can be expensive to clean up, and adds more headaches to an already vulnerable population that providers are trying to help.

In this post, we explore the risks and challenges associated with data protection in healthcare, dive into the importance of safeguarding sensitive information, and highlight how Skyflow can effectively enhance data protection for healthcare organizations.

The Importance of Data Protection in Healthcare

Healthcare data is under attack at an ever-increasing rate. According to a letter issued by the HHS Office for Civil Rights on March 13, 2024, over the past five years, there has been a 256% increase in large breaches reported to OCR involving hacking. In 2023, hacking accounted for 79% of the large breaches reported to OCR, affecting over 134 million individuals—a 141% increase from 2022.

The increasing prevalence of cyber threats highlights the critical need for robust data protection measures. Healthcare organizations are particularly vulnerable due to the sensitive nature of the data they handle, which includes personal health information (PHI), financial information, and other confidential details. 

When a hack happens, it’s more likely to make headlines because of its widespread impact. For instance, CNBC reported that the UnitedHealth CEO estimated one-third of Americans could be impacted by the Change Healthcare cyberattack. This public visibility underscores the importance of maintaining strong data protection practices to safeguard patient trust and organizational reputation.

Challenges and Risks

The financial consequences of inadequate data protection are immense. 

A CBS article reported that UnitedHealth incurred $872 million due to the previously mentioned cyberattack. There is an enormous financial burden and operational disruption resulting from such incidents. Beyond financial loss, breaches erode patient trust, compromise patient care, and can lead to severe regulatory penalties.

Healthcare organizations face numerous challenges in protecting their data:

1. High Value of Health Data: The sensitive nature of PHI makes healthcare organizations prime targets for cybercriminals.
2. Complex Technical Architecture: Integrating various technologies and systems in healthcare makes it difficult to secure sensitive data when it is widespread.
3. Internal Threats: Insider threats, whether intentional or accidental, account for a significant portion of data breaches. According to the Verizon 2023 Data Breach Investigations Report, internal actors account for almost 20% of breaches.
4. Regulatory Compliance Complexity: For providers located in the US, key regulations include: Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), and Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS). The FTC has also finalized new changes to the Health Breach Notification Rule, which applies to health-related applications not covered by HIPAA.

Solutions and Best Practices

To address these challenges, robust data protection solutions that can be applied universally across all sensitive data for all data consumers are essential. One effective method is applying the Data Privacy Vault architecture to reduce an organization's sensitive data footprint. By isolating PHI and other critical data, healthcare organizations can minimize points of vulnerability.

Once sensitive data is isolated, organizations can dramatically lower the chances of unauthorized access by implementing advanced techniques like polymorphic tokenization and strict access controls at the data layer. This protects sensitive data from external threats and mitigates internal risks by consistently enforcing the least-privileged data governance policies.

Compliance management is also simplified since sensitive data is properly isolated, protected, and governed. There is only one place to apply changes, so staying ahead of evolving regulatory landscapes is easy. With the risk of breaches reduced, so are the associated regulatory penalties. Healthcare providers can maintain patient trust and protect their reputations.

Real-World Applications and Use Cases

An example of successful implementation is the collaboration between GoodRx and Skyflow. GoodRx faced the challenge of keeping records from 240 million patients safe from cyber threats while ensuring that internal access to data was tightly controlled. They initially attempted to build and maintain a data privacy vault internally but encountered security issues that made this approach unsustainable.

By migrating 710+ million tokens to Skyflow’s platform in less than three weeks, GoodRx minimized architectural changes and operational impact. This transition allowed their engineering team to focus on enhancing customer experiences, reduced the total cost of ownership by 67%, and significantly increased data privacy standards. With Skyflow, GoodRx can also ensure privacy for LLMs and analytics, a capability that was not previously possible.

To learn more about how Skyflow helps GoodRx better protect healthcare data, you can watch this talk given by Skyflow’s CEO, Anshu Sharma, and GoodRx’s CTO, Nitin Shingate:

Conclusion

Data protection in healthcare is imperative to safeguard sensitive patient information, maintain regulatory compliance, and protect organizations from financial and reputational damage. Healthcare providers can better manage and protect their data using tools like the Data Privacy Vault, ensuring privacy and trust. Implementing proactive data protection measures helps guard against current threats and prepares the organization for what lies ahead.

For more information on how Skyflow can help your organization enhance its data protection strategies, visit Skyflow for Healthcare to learn more.

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