By Healthcare Facilities Today

If you're trimming your security systems to save a few pennies, better think again, according to an article on the HealthcareIT News wenbsite. Chances are, it will end up costing much more down the road --  $1.6 billion more.  

Most healthcare organizations nationwide reported a security-related incident in the form of security breach, data loss or unplanned downtime at least once this past year, according to a new health IT report by MeriTalk.

These security events cost U.S. hospitals an estimated $1.6 billion each year. Breaking it down by incident, hospitals should expect to hand over on average $810,000 per security breach, which occurs at nearly one in five healthcare organizations nationwide, the article said. 

The bulk of those security breaches result from malware and viruses; outsider attacks account for 42 percent; and physical security, which includes equipment loss or theft, accounts for 38 percent, according to the article. 

It's not just the breaches that are costing healthcare organizations. It's also hardware and software failures that can result in big time data loss and unplanned outages. 

Data loss has affected nearly one in three healthcare organizations this past year, costing on average $807,571 per incident. Hardware failure account for 51 percent; loss of power at 49 percent and loss of backup power at 27 percent, according to the study.

The report said providers know they're not prepared. Most say they won't be able to restore 100 percent of the data required by SLAs following an emergency. The majority -- 82 percent - say their technology infrastructure is not fully prepared for a disaster recovery incident. Resultantly, some are working to change that. 

Read the article.