HIPAA Statistics

Finding HIPAA statistics can be difficult, whether it’s for violations, data breaches, fines, or just general stats on HIPAA compliance. We have compiled these stats to make it easier for your to use and find these important pieces of data.

General HIPAA Statistics

Every year we have thousands of webinar attendees who share information on their HIPAA compliance. We compiled a group of statistics from your peers to help the healthcare industry understand how the industry stands in regards to HIPAA.

When surveyed:

• 60% were not fully confident they would pass a HIPAA audit
• Only 34% had fully documented their HIPAA compliance
• 99% find HIPAA compliance to be important to their business
• 70% have had an incident in the past 12 months
• 48% use paper or do not track their HIPAA breaches
• 1 out of 7 organizations do not have a Compliance Officer

Behind the Numbers: Eye-Opening HIPAA Violation Statistics

HIPAA violations happen every day, but what are the main cases? An OCR director once said “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” so understanding these statistics can protect your business from one of the leading causes of HIPAA investigations.

• Accidental negligence is twice as likely to happen than malicious negligence.
• In 2020, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) imposed $13.5 million in HIPAA fines, a record-breaking amount, with the largest individual fine being $6.85 million. (Source: HIPAA Journal)
• The number of HIPAA audits and investigations conducted by the OCR has increased steadily in recent years, with 220 audits and 9,136 investigations initiated in 2020 alone. (Source: HIPAA Journal)

HIPAA Data Breach Epidemic: A Look at the Numbers

Data breaches have become a common occurrence in today’s world. Unauthorized access to sensitive information can result in severe financial and reputational damage for individuals and organizations. Understanding the scope and frequency of data breaches is critical in implementing effective cybersecurity measures. In this regard, data breach statistics provide valuable insights into the trends, types, and impacts of these incidents:

• In April 2023 Business associates reported 13 incidents that affected 4,077,019 patients, representing 92.2% of patients affected.
• In 2022, an average of 1.94 healthcare data breaches of 500 or more records were reported each day.
• The average cost of a healthcare data breach is $7.13 million, which is higher than the global average across all industries. (Source: IBM)
• The top causes of healthcare data breaches are phishing attacks, ransomware attacks, and human error such as sending an email to the wrong recipient. (Source: HIPAA Journal)
• There has been an upward trend in data breaches over the past 14 years.
• Healthcare accounts for 79% of all reported breaches.
• In 2020, there were 599 reported data breaches affecting 26 million individuals in the healthcare industry, with hacking/IT incidents accounting for 58% of the breaches. (Source: HIPAA Journal

How Much Can HIPAA Violations Cost You? Discover the Latest Fine Statistics

HIPAA fines come in many shapes and forms, so we have curated some stats for you, view a full list of all HIPAA fines.

• The average HIPAA fine in 2022 was $98,643 which illustrates the increase in enforcement to smaller businesses
• 65% of fines were given to small practices
• Since the first Right of Access fine was issued, close to 40% of HIPAA fines have been due to this (as of May 2nd 2023)
• There was a 450% increase in Right of Access fines from 2019 to 2022
• There have been more fines in 2021 & 2022 than any other year in HIPAA compliance.