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Black patients faced additional risks to their own lives.
In recent years, cybercriminals have increasingly targeted medical institutions, exposing them to ransomware attacks. These attacks block access to electronic systems and demand a ransom for restoring access. A new study conducted by researchers at the University of Minnesota has revealed the significant impact of such attacks on hospital operations and patient health.
In the course of the study, a database of ransomware attacks on hospitals was created and compared with data from the Medicare program. The results showed that during the attack, the hospital's work volume is reduced by 17-25%, and Medicare revenues are reduced even more significantly. The volume of services in emergency departments and hospitals is particularly sharply reduced, which leads to a reduction in revenues by 19-41%.
The analysis showed that ransomware attacks increase nosocomial mortality. For patients who were in the hospital at the time of the attack, the probability of death increases by 0.77 percentage points, which corresponds to an increase of 20.7% compared to normal indicators.
The researchers also found that the most serious attacks, accompanied by ambulance transfers and cancellation of scheduled procedures, lead to an even greater increase in mortality — up to 1.87 percentage points.
Black patients are particularly affected by such attacks, with a 2.27 percentage point increase in mortality. This is due to the fact that vulnerable groups often receive less quality medical care, which is exacerbated during crises.
With hospitals growing reliance on digital systems such as electronic health records and telemedicine, their vulnerability to cyberattacks has also increased. A similar situation was observed during the COVID-19 pandemic, which also contributed to an increase in the number of such attacks. Hospitals were overwhelmed and actively used new, often less secure technologies.
Cybercriminals use a variety of methods to infiltrate hospital systems, including phishing attacks and exploiting open software breaches. This makes hospitals particularly vulnerable, as they often use outdated equipment, and the overall level of protection is quite low.
In addition, the researchers found that attacks on hospitals have an impact on and on neighboring medical institutions that are forced to accept patients from affected organizations. However, despite the increased workload, there was no increase in mortality in these hospitals. This suggests that hospitals are able to adapt to temporary congestion, but it does not reduce the severity of the problem for the attacked institutions.
Thus, ransomware attacks have a significant negative impact on the operation of hospitals and the health of patients. Researchers emphasize the need to develop robust security measures aimed at improving the protection of medical institutions and minimizing the consequences of such attacks. It is important not only to prevent attacks, but also to have plans to quickly restore work if they occur.
Source
In recent years, cybercriminals have increasingly targeted medical institutions, exposing them to ransomware attacks. These attacks block access to electronic systems and demand a ransom for restoring access. A new study conducted by researchers at the University of Minnesota has revealed the significant impact of such attacks on hospital operations and patient health.
In the course of the study, a database of ransomware attacks on hospitals was created and compared with data from the Medicare program. The results showed that during the attack, the hospital's work volume is reduced by 17-25%, and Medicare revenues are reduced even more significantly. The volume of services in emergency departments and hospitals is particularly sharply reduced, which leads to a reduction in revenues by 19-41%.
The analysis showed that ransomware attacks increase nosocomial mortality. For patients who were in the hospital at the time of the attack, the probability of death increases by 0.77 percentage points, which corresponds to an increase of 20.7% compared to normal indicators.
The researchers also found that the most serious attacks, accompanied by ambulance transfers and cancellation of scheduled procedures, lead to an even greater increase in mortality — up to 1.87 percentage points.
Black patients are particularly affected by such attacks, with a 2.27 percentage point increase in mortality. This is due to the fact that vulnerable groups often receive less quality medical care, which is exacerbated during crises.
With hospitals growing reliance on digital systems such as electronic health records and telemedicine, their vulnerability to cyberattacks has also increased. A similar situation was observed during the COVID-19 pandemic, which also contributed to an increase in the number of such attacks. Hospitals were overwhelmed and actively used new, often less secure technologies.
Cybercriminals use a variety of methods to infiltrate hospital systems, including phishing attacks and exploiting open software breaches. This makes hospitals particularly vulnerable, as they often use outdated equipment, and the overall level of protection is quite low.
In addition, the researchers found that attacks on hospitals have an impact on and on neighboring medical institutions that are forced to accept patients from affected organizations. However, despite the increased workload, there was no increase in mortality in these hospitals. This suggests that hospitals are able to adapt to temporary congestion, but it does not reduce the severity of the problem for the attacked institutions.
Thus, ransomware attacks have a significant negative impact on the operation of hospitals and the health of patients. Researchers emphasize the need to develop robust security measures aimed at improving the protection of medical institutions and minimizing the consequences of such attacks. It is important not only to prevent attacks, but also to have plans to quickly restore work if they occur.
Source
