Becker's Hospital Review

87 CIO / HEALTH IT More than 50M patient records breached in 2021, report finds By Andrew Cass T here were more than 50 million patient records breached in 2021, according to a March 10 report from healthcare compliance analytics company Protenus. e number of affected patient records in- creased by 24 percent last year, according to the company's "Breach Barometer Report." ere were more than 40.7 million patient records compromised in 2020. e number of reported breaches in 2021 in- creased by 19 percent. ere were 905 report- ed in 2021 compared to 758 in 2020. Hacking incidents accounted for 75 percent of breaches in 2021. e largest incident in 2021 was the result of a hack involving the IT business associate of Tallahassee-based Florida Healthy Kids Corp., a Medicaid health plan, according to the report. e incident affected as many as 3.5 million people who applied for health insurance between 2013 and December 2020. Incidents were compiled and analyzed by DataBreaches.net, with additional research and analyses provided by Protenus, according to a Protenus news release. n Humana, Anthem CIOs weigh in on shift in their roles By Naomi Diaz C IOs from health insurers Humana and Anthem weighed in on the complexity of their roles and how they went from making enterprise technology decisions to becoming business advisers, The Wall Street Journal reported Feb. 24. CIOs continue to oversee data governance, compliance and other high-level IT functions, but their roles are be- coming more complex as they are now tasked with iden- tifying business opportunities and making recommenda- tions, according to the report. Anil Bhatt, global CIO at Anthem, said the job of the IT de- partment is to set and drive the company's overall enter- prise-tech strategy. But now his role has expanded as the company looks to him to drive its overall strategic goals. Sam Deshpande, CIO at health insurance provider Huma- na, told the Journal that dedicated technology teams are now becoming integrated with the company's broader business strategy as technology becomes a driving force for a businesses survival inside and out of the IT sector. n Majority of providers frustrated with lofty patient expectations for virtual visits, study finds By Katie Adams F ifty-five percent of healthcare providers are frustrat- ed with managing patient expectations for telehealth visits, according to research released March 15 by UnitedHealth Group. Researchers from UnitedHealth Group subsidiary Op- tum surveyed healthcare providers from Oct. 25, 2021, to Nov. 2, 2021. About 75 percent of respondents practiced primary care, 18 percent practiced specialty care and 4 per- cent practiced urgent care. Three more findings for the survey: 1. Fifty-eight percent of respondents reported feeling frus- trated by the quality of care they can provide via telehealth appointments. 2. Half of respondents reported feeling frustrated by the technical details that come with navigating telehealth. 3. Ninety percent of respondents said they feel telehealth increases convenience for patients, and 52 percent said telehealth makes it easier for patients to find available appointments. n

• Cover