Report Finds Increased Patient Care Disruption from Cyberattacks

Today, Proofpoint, Inc., a cybersecurity and compliance company, and Ponemon Institute, an IT security research organization, released the results of their third annual survey on the effects of cybersecurity in healthcare. The report found an increase of 77 percent from last year in patient care disruption due to cyberattacks.

One key finding from the report Cyber Insecurity in Healthcare: The Cost and Impact on Patient Safety and Care 2024 was that 92 percent of the surveyed health systems experienced at least one cyberattack in the past 12 months, an increase from 88 percent in 2023.

A press release posted on Proofpoint’s website stated that 56 percent of surveyed organizations reported poor patient outcomes due to delays in procedures and tests, and 53 percent saw an increase in medical procedure complications. Twenty-eight percent of organizations said that patient mortality rates increased, an increase of five percent from 2023. Supply chain attacks are most likely to affect patient care, the survey found.

“The healthcare industry seems to increasingly recognize the importance cybersecurity plays in patient outcomes; on average, IT budgets have increased, and fewer IT practitioners indicate that budget is a challenge in keeping their organization’s cybersecurity posture from being fully effective,” said Larry Ponemon, chairman and founder of the Ponemon Institute, in a statement.

For this report, 648 information technology and security practitioners’ organizations were surveyed.