A new report by PwC says a majority of health organisations do not have sufficient preparations to protect their patients’ privacy following the emergence of new applications for digital health, including mobile technology. “Old privacy and security controls no longer suffice to comply with existing privacy laws and patient consent agreements,” says the report from PwC’s Health Research Institute.

The report says existing controls have not kept up with the changing face of healthcare which include greater use of mobile phones, as well as increased access to information in electronic health records, more collaboration for healthcare professionals with external partners and new uses for digital health information.

“Although paper-based health information breaches must now be disclosed under the breach notification provision under the HITECH Act, electronic data breaches occur three times more frequently and affect 25 times more people when they occur,” said James Koenig (pictured), director and co-leader of the health information privacy and security practice with PwC.