WASHINGTON — The nation’s push to computerize medical records has failed to fully address longstanding security gaps that expose patients’ most sensitive information to hackers and snoops, government investigators warn.
Two reports released today by the inspector general of the Health and Human Services Department find that the drive to connect hospitals and doctors so they can share patient data electronically is being layered on a system that already has glaring privacy problems.
Connecting it could open new pathways for hackers, investigators say.
The market for illicit health care information is booming. Swindlers covet health care records, since they contain identifiers that can be used to construct a false identity or send Medicare bogus bills.
The shortcomings in the system “need to be addressed to ensure a secure environment for health data,’’ the main report said, adding that the findings “raise concern’’ about the effectiveness of security safeguards for personal health care information.
The hospitals were located in California, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York, and Texas. For security reasons, they were not identified.
President Obama has set a goal for every American to have a secure electronic health record by 2014. Eventually, hospitals and doctors would be able to instantly share patients’ clinical information online.
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