Karly Rowe, SVP, Product Management Interim President General Manager, Provider at InovalonThe impact of any data breach cannot be overstated, especially in healthcare. Unlike other sectors, such as financial services or travel, healthcare records contain “one of one” data – medical history cannot simply be replaced or revoked, making this data uniquely valuable to threat actors.Unfortunately, healthcare has seen a clear surge in data breaches in recent years. Financially motivated hackers and insider threats are increasingly exploiting cybersecurity gaps that were underscored during the COVID-19 pandemic to access sensitive data such as patient records and vaccine research. Healthcare data breaches grew from 519 in 2019 to 663 in 2020, and just last year, the healthcare industry experienced 725 data breaches, with each breach affecting 500 or more records – a 96% increase from 369 in 2018.Among the increased incidents last year was the largest healthcare data breach ever reported in the U.S., which affected over 190 million people in Spring 2024. This was a turning point; the entire industry was forced to evaluate data protection and cybersecurity best practices. The breach caused significant disruptions to patient care, prescriptions, and reimbursement. Thousands of providers were affected by service disruptions, with 80% reporting losing revenue to unpaid claims, 85% having to commit additional staff time/resources to complete revenue cycle tasks, and 78% having lost revenue from claims they could not submit. At the one-year milestone of the biggest ransomware attack in healthcare’s history, here are three key lessons learned that will continue to impact the industry and responses to future cybersecurity threats across the care continuum.Cybersecurity is taking the wheel of RCM vendor-provider relationships The rise in data breaches has led to heightened security considerations when vetting new vendors or partners. Buying behaviors are different, as healthcare professionals are now more aware than ever of the short- and long-term implications of a data breach, including the erosion of patient trust, operational disruptions, and significant financial losses (the average cost of a healthcare data breach is $9.8 million).Provider organizations are not wasting any time getting right to the question on everyone’s minds, “How can I trust this connection is secure?”.  They’re now starting with extensive vetting earlier in the buying process, checking for cybersecurity best practices and system reliability as they explore a vendor’s offerings and product capabilities, as well as their vulnerabilities.To get ahead of changes in buyer expectations, companies must take decisive action to improve their cybersecurity posture by safeguarding sensitive data and maintaining operational integrity

In an effort to compare rates of persistence to basal insulin before and after implementation of the cost cap, PQA partnered with Inovalon and used the PTS-INS measurement at the population level.