Health care cybersecurity focuses on privacy protection, not attacks [Video]

Year after year, more Americans are affected by health care data breaches. Though health savings accounts, pharmacies, and major hospitals have all been attacked in 2024, a single data breach accounted for the vast majority of people’s data being exposed: Change Healthcare.

Multiple times this year, lawmakers have questioned health care industry experts about why the massive and disruptive Change Healthcare breach was allowed to happen, and what the government should do to improve health care cybersecurity overall. 

Part of the problem right now, experts told STAT, is that health care data privacy laws are better at keeping a corpse’s health information private than keeping patients alive. Cyberattacks at hospitals can put lives at risk, often result in worse outcomes for patients, and have even closed hospitals and bankrupted nursing homes. 

In this video, STAT health tech reporter Brittany Trang explains why health care cybersecurity is so bad — and what the government and health care industry are doing to fix it.