Joseph J. Lazzarotti, writing for JacksonLewis:
A recent study suggests that the likelihood for hospitals to experience a data breach doubles during the year before and after a merger. As some expect an increase in hospital mergers in the coming year, one can expect the number of healthcare data breaches to increase.
According to the research, Nan Clement, a Ph.D. candidate in economics in the School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences in the University of Texas at Dallas looked at reporting on data breaches from the Office for Civil Rights during the period 2010 to 2022. Based on her analysis, for the two-year period surrounding a transaction closing (one year before and after the closing date), the chances of a data breach was 6%, compared to 3% for hospitals that merged but were outside that two-year period.