The number of breaches of protected health information reported by health plans and clinicians, covered under HIPAA, between 2010 to 2013 was 949, according to a research letter published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
The letter examines breaches affecting 500 individuals or more reported as occurring from 2010 to 2013.
The total number of data breaches reported in 2010 was 214 and it involved 5.1 million records. In 2013, the total number of breaches reported totaled 265, involving 9 million records.
Also, in 2013, around 49 percent of the breaches were due to theft; 12.1 percent due to loss or improper disposal; and 8.7 due to hacking or other IT incidents. Data breaches involving an external vendor accounted for approximately 27 percent of the total number of data breaches reported.