By Dan Hounsell

Healthcare IT managers are being reminded on a regular basis that despite their best efforts to protect patient information from cyber attacks, the real threat often is inside the organization. 

At least five healthcare organizations have confirmed they were affected in a data breach by revenue cycle and patient billing vendor Med-Data. The vendor discovered the breach when an independent journalist contacted Med-Data about patients' personal health information being published online, according to Becker’s Hospital Review.

An investigation concluded that a former employee saved PHI to personal folders and uploaded the files to a public website. At least five health systems and hospitals were affected by the breach. The data breach portal for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reported 135,908 individuals have been affected.