What Can You Do If Your Privacy Is Violated?

Privacy is a principal concern in the healthcare industry. Your doctor knows more about you than almost anyone else. We often tell doctors things we would never tell anyone else and it is all stored in your medical records.

Medical records are a convenient way to store information from multiple institutions and from multiple specialists in one place. Doctors make use of the convenience, but they are not the only ones. Unscrupulous individuals, both inside and outside the healthcare field, want access to your private information. According to recent reports, they are getting that access.

Source of the Leaks

Many data breaches come from dedicated hackers. They steal physicians’ laptops out of their cars, for example, in an effort to get into healthcare records. Stolen access credentials are the basis of 70.2% of all outside hacking attempts.

A Data Breach Investigations Report from 2018 found that workers in the healthcare industry initiated 58% of breaches of patient records. Financial gain is usually the motive and abuse of credentials the means. However, ransomware and other malware are frequently used to get past security and access your confidential information.

Black Market

A black market of stolen patient information is a temptation that ensnares too many healthcare professionals. With the information in your patient files, a hacker can commit a long list of crimes, including financial, insurance, and medication fraud. A medical record may sell for $100 on the black market, which is why in 2016 breaches of medical records were nine times as likely as financial records.

Your private health information is crucial to your relationship with your doctor. It is also a matter of the utmost confidentiality. Data breaches put you at financial risk, and data loss puts you at personal risk.

No one deserves to have their relationship with their physician compromised by malicious hackers and crooked healthcare workers. If a data beach has threatened your physical health or financial security, you may be eligible for compensation. Reach out to professionals who understand what you are going through and know how to do something about it. Contact Regan Zambri Long for a free consultation.