The research, which analyzed hospitals’ merger records and breach reports from the HHS between 2010 and 2022, comes as data breaches become increasingly costly for healthcare systems.
Healthcare breaches exposed 385 million patient records during that period, and hacking incidents have soared over the past five years, according to federal records.
The healthcare industry is the most expensive sector for data breaches, with the average cost reaching nearly $11 million this year, according to research conducted by the Ponemon Institute and published by IBM Security.
