Medical data breaches most often caused by theft

[lyger <lyger () attrition org>]

http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2010/08/30/bisf0903.htm

The best defense physician practices can take against data breaches might 
be to keep a more watchful eye for thieves.

The Health Information Trust Alliance in August published an analysis of 
the 108 breaches that were reported to the Dept. of Health and Human 
Services from Sept. 23, 2009, to mid-July. The study found that the only 
type of breach experienced by every industry sector -- and often the 
biggest cause of a breach -- was theft. Health plans and physician 
practices were the biggest targets.

The analysis found that 68 of the 108 reported breaches were the result of 
theft. Of those thefts, 24 were at physician practices and involved a 
total of 318,478 patient records 
(www.hitrustcentral.net/blogs/ht/archive/2010/08/02/update-an-analysis-of-hhs-breach-data.aspx).

[...]

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