by J.D. Davidson
Tennessee ranks among the worst states in the country for medical data breaches since 2009, according to a new report from a research company focused on internet security.
The study showed Tennessee had more than 100,000 records per 100,000 people affected by medical breachers, ranking the state in the top 15 of most records impacted.
The company looked at data from 2009-23 to compare states, and the study covered breaches it says led to the exploitation of personal medical data, putting patients’ health and, in some cases, lives at risk.
According to the study, 2020 had the highest number of medical breaches since 2009, with 821 and 47 million records affected. The number of breaches declined in 2021 (to 757) and more in 2022 (to 562), but the number of records impacted in 2022 remained high at 47.6 million breached in 2022 compared to 49.5 million in 2021.
All 50 states must report medical breaches to the U.S. Department of Human Services.
Indiana was the worst state in the study with 1.3 million records affected per 100,000 people. The bulk of those records came from one breach in 2015 at Anthem, Inc., when 78.8 million records were impacted.
Delaware was the second-worst state, followed by Minnesota, Washington and Florida.
South Dakota reported the lowest figures with just 13 data breaches reported since 2009 and 46,387 medical records breached.
The study also showed specialist clinics reported more breaches in 2022 than any other organization, followed by health insurance companies, clinic networks, specialist clinic networks and then hospitals.
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An Ohio native, J.D. Davidson is a veteran journalist with more than 30 years of experience in newspapers in Ohio, Georgia, Alabama and Texas. He has served as a reporter, editor, managing editor and publisher. Davidson is a regional editor for The Center Square.Â
