Understanding the Rise of Ransomware Attacks on Rural Hospitals

Among the key findings in this brief from the University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center:

• Rural hospitals experienced an increasing number of ransomware attacks from 2016 to 2021.
• From 2016 to 2021, 43 rural hospitals across 22 states experienced a ransomware attack.
• Ransomware attacks afflicted all types of rural hospitals, including Critical Access Hospitals (N=9), Sole Community Hospitals (N=13), Rural Referral Centers (N=3), and hospitals paid under Medicare’s Inpatient Prospective Payment System (N=18).
• Eighty-four percent of ransomware attacks on rural hospitals resulted in operational disruptions. Common disruptions included electronic system downtime (81%), delays or cancellations in scheduled care (42%), and ambulance diversion (33%). Operational disruptions were similar in rural and urban hospital settings.

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