Paper Security Breaches: Are You At Risk?

By Randy Cusick, technical marketing manager, Xerox North America

Reported data breaches by the Department of Health and Human Services are indicating that healthcare organizations are doing a better job of protecting patient information. The total number of breaches affecting 500 or more individuals in 2011 is on pace to be about 1/3 lower than 2010. However, while the number of breaches is down, the data shows a significant increase in the percentage of breaches involving paper documents; rising from 18% in 2009 to 27% in 2011 to date.

Further contributing to this trend is data from the annual report to Congress on Breaches of Unsecured Protected Health Information for the years 2009 and 2010, in which HHS called out "improper disposal of paper records" as a new category of incidents. The remedial actions reported by organizations who reported breaches focused on physical security measures, re-training of staff and electronic data security. None of the reported remedial actions addressed print security or printer security specifically. As a result, we believe this is still an overlooked area.

While many providers are clearly starting to address their electronic information workflows, they may overlook paper-based information workflows. Paper as a medium is not going away. Left unsecured, it represents risk of theft, loss or other mishandling – whether malicious or not. Furthermore, the shift to EMR/EHR can lead to increased printing in a distributed model which compounds the security risks of untracked access to multifunction printers.

However, ensuring your print environment is as safe as it should be, and protecting the paper documents your organization handles, can start with answering three questions:

• Do your print devices meet your corporate security and risk management requirements?
• Do you have a "print policy" in place to provide governance of paper and paper records?
• Do you have authentication enabled for open access printing in your facility?

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