Data Breaches Cost Hospitals $6B Yearly

It is unclear if next week's research will be the sixth annual study or whether it's independent research. The 2009 study focused on 45 U.S. companies from 15 different industry sectors.

The Health Information Trust Alliance's (HITRUST) analyzes of breaches of unsecured protected health information (PHI) of 500 or more affected individuals on the Office for Civil Rights website.

Covered entities and business associates reporting the breaches on the site together could spend nearly $1 billion because of those breaches, the August 2010 report found.

HITRUST used the 2009 Ponemon Institute study that found the average cost for a compromised record to be approximately $144 in indirect costs and $60 of direct costs, for a total cost of $204.

OCR's breach notification website list has grown since the HITRUST report. As of Thursday, November 4, 189 entities have reported breaches of 500 or more.