The rise of ransomware attacks and data breaches on dental practices at a time when many are struggling to keep their doors open is certainly disappointing, but not surprising. The truth is, health care providers and agencies have always been more susceptible to a data breach than other industries; two-to-three times more likely, in fact, and with significantly higher mitigation costs.
The pandemic has only served to incentivize cyber criminals, who are banking on the fact that small-to-midsize practice groups are overwhelmed and overworked, using outdated and otherwise vulnerable data networks to access patient records, often while working remotely.
If the need for cyber coverage was pressing for Carolina dentists before the pandemic, it is nothing short of crucial today. And if the timing for a higher insurance premium seems less than ideal, there is some good news in the announcement of a new cyber insurance product line with premiums starting at just $50 a year for $50,000 in coverage with no application.
Offered through Sentinel’s premier partnership with Selective Insurance Group, the new coverage line offers protection against some of the more common and costly cyber liability exposures, including:
- Business Interruption–mitigates income lost in the event a cyber attack compromises the practice’s ability to treat patients and bill for services over a period of days or even weeks.
- Cyber Extortion–reimburses all or a portion of ransomware demand costs, and just as importantly, offers technical assistance through Selective’s breach response service team with regard to incident handling, communication and mitigation.
- First Party Data Protection Loss–provides assistance with data restoration in the event that non-protected health records are compromised.
- Stolen Portable Device–provides forensic security and credit monitoring in the event that patient records are compromised due to the theft of an unencrypted laptop or personal device.
The cost of a data breach for healthcare professionals has skyrocketed in recent years, to nearly $370 for every record lost today. Many of those costs stem from failing to identify that a data breach has occurred and not moving quickly enough to conduct forensics and implement mitigation procedures.
Selective’s new cyber liability coverage line includes complementary access to the risk management portal, BreachSolutions.com, providing tools and resources to help prepare for a cyber attack and mitigate losses in the event of a data breach.
To find out more about the cyber liability coverage option that is best for your practice, contact Sentinel at dental@sentinelra.com.
And in the meantime, follow these information technology best practices to ensure your personal, practice and patient health records are secure:
–Ensure proper application security and network security programs and firewalls are installed and regularly updated.
–Put encryption protocols in place, for data stored on site, in the cloud, and transmissible data.
–Require third party vendors with network access to follow encryption protocols, too.
–Conduct employee training on the proper storage and handling of private health information records, and well as proper transmission protocols, to prevent employees from disclosing information that could enable a breach to occur.
