WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Systems storing and transmitting health information in electronic form are vulnerable to cyber-based threats and their number has increased steadily in recent years, from zero in 2009 to 56 in 2015, the GAO documented.
"The resulting breaches — involving over 113 million records in 2015 — can have serious adverse impacts such as identity theft, fraud, and disruption of health care services," the report stated.
The guidance for covered entities, such as health plans and care providers that has been established by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) "does not address all elements called for by other federal cybersecurity guidance," the report warned.
HHS's guidance does not address how covered entities should tailor their implementations of key security controls identified by the National Institute of Standards and Technology to their specific needs, the GAO said.
