How to Prevent Data Breaches in Healthcare and Protect PHI
Preventing data breaches in healthcare is no longer just about stopping cyberattacks. In 2026, the greater challenge is maintaining continuous visibility into where protected health information (PHI) lives, how it is accessed, and how it is reused across modern healthcare environments governed by HIPAA compliance requirements.
PHI no longer resides in a single system or under the control of one team. It moves constantly between cloud platforms, electronic health record (EHR) systems, business associates, analytics environments, and AI tools used throughout healthcare operations. While this data sharing enables better patient care and operational efficiency, it also introduces new healthcare cybersecurity risks that traditional, perimeter-based security controls were never designed to manage.
From Perimeter Security to Data-Centric PHI Protection
Many of the most damaging healthcare data breaches in recent years have shared a common root cause:
limited visibility into sensitive data and unclear ownership across shared environments.
Over-permissioned identities, long-lived third-party access, and AI systems interacting with regulated data without proper governance can silently expand exposure until an incident forces disruptive containment measures. Protecting PHI in 2026 requires a data-centric approach to healthcare data security. Instead of focusing only on where data is stored, organizations must continuously understand what sensitive data exists, who can access it, and how that access changes over time. This shift is foundational to effective HIPAA compliance, resilient incident response, and the safe adoption of AI in healthcare.
The Importance of Data Security in Healthcare
Healthcare organizations continue to face disproportionate risk from data breaches, with incidents carrying significant financial, operational, and reputational consequences. Recent industry analyses show that healthcare remains the costliest industry for data breaches, with the average breach costing approximately $7.4 million globally in 2025 and exceeding $10 million per incident in the U.S., driven by regulatory penalties and prolonged recovery efforts.
The scale and complexity of healthcare breaches have also increased. As of late 2025, hundreds of large healthcare data breaches affecting tens of millions of individuals had already been reported in the U.S. alone, including incidents tied to shared infrastructure and third-party service providers. These events highlight how a single exposure can rapidly expand across interconnected healthcare ecosystems.
Importantly, many recent breaches are no longer caused solely by external attacks. Instead, they stem from internal access issues such as over-permissioned identities, misdirected data sharing, and long-lived third-party access, risks now amplified by analytics platforms and AI tools interacting directly with regulated data. As healthcare organizations continue to adopt new technologies, protecting PHI increasingly depends on controlling how sensitive data is accessed, shared, and reused over time, not just where it is stored.
Healthcare Cybersecurity Regulations & Standards
For healthcare organizations, it is especially crucial to protect patient data and follow industry rules. Transitioning to the cloud shouldn't disrupt compliance efforts. But staying on top of strict data privacy regulations adds another layer of complexity to managing healthcare data.
Below are some of the top healthcare cybersecurity regulations relevant to the industry.
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA)
HIPAA is pivotal in healthcare cybersecurity, mandating compliance for covered entities and business associates. It requires regular risk assessments and adherence to administrative, physical, and technical safeguards for electronic Protected Health Information (ePHI).
HIPAA, at its core, establishes national standards to protect sensitive patient health information from being disclosed without the patient's consent or knowledge. For leaders in healthcare data management, understanding the nuances of HIPAA's Titles and amendments is essential. Particularly relevant are Title II's (HIPAA Administrative Simplification), Privacy Rule, and Security Rule.
HHS 405(d)
HHS 405(d) regulations, under the Cybersecurity Act of 2015, establish voluntary guidelines for healthcare cybersecurity, embodied in the Healthcare Industry Cybersecurity Practices (HICP) framework. This framework covers email, endpoint protection, access management, and more.
Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act
The HITECH Act, enacted in 2009, enhances HIPAA requirements, promoting the adoption of healthcare technology and imposing stricter penalties for HIPAA violations. It mandates annual cybersecurity audits and extends HIPAA regulations to business associates.
Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS)
PCI DSS applies to healthcare organizations processing credit cards, ensuring the protection of cardholder data. Compliance is necessary for handling patient card information.
Quality System Regulation (QSR)
The Quality System Regulation (QSR), enforced by the FDA, focuses on securing medical devices, requiring measures like access prevention, risk management, and firmware updates. Proposed changes aim to align QSR with ISO 13485 standards.
Health Information Trust Alliance (HITRUST)
HITRUST, a global cybersecurity framework, aids healthcare organizations in aligning with HIPAA guidelines, offering guidance on various aspects including endpoint security, risk management, and physical security. Though not mandatory, HITRUST serves as a valuable resource for bolstering compliance efforts.
Preventing Data Breaches in Healthcare with Sentra
Sentra’s Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) automatically discovers and accurately classifies your sensitive patient data. By seamlessly building a well-organized data catalog, Sentra ensures all your patient data is secure, stored correctly and in compliance. The best part is, your data never leaves your environment.
Discover and Accurately Classify your High Risk Patient Data
Discover and accurately classify your high-risk patient data with ease using Sentra. Within minutes, Sentra empowers you to uncover and comprehend your Protected Health Information (PHI), spanning patient medical history, treatment plans, lab tests, radiology images, physician notes, and more.
Seamlessly build a well-organized data catalog, ensuring that all your high-risk patient data is securely stored and compliant. As a cloud-native solution, Sentra enables you to scale security across your entire data estate. Your cloud data remains within your environment, putting you in complete control of your sensitive data at all times.
Sentra Reduces Data Risks by Controlling Posture and Access
Sentra is your solution for reducing data risks and preventing data breaches by efficiently controlling posture and access. With Sentra, you can enforce security policies for sensitive data, receiving alerts to violations promptly. It detects which users have access to sensitive Protected Health Information (PHI), ensuring transparency and accountability. Additionally, Sentra helps you manage third-party access risks by offering varying levels of access to different providers. Achieve least privilege access by leveraging Sentra's continuous monitoring and tracking capabilities, which keep tabs on access keys and user identities. This ensures that each user has precisely the right access permissions, minimizing the risk of unauthorized data exposure.
Stay on Top of Healthcare Data Regulations with Sentra
Sentra’s Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) solution streamlines and automates the management of your regulated patient data, preparing you for significant security audits. Gain a comprehensive view of all sensitive patient data, allowing our platform to automatically identify compliance gaps for proactive and swift resolution.
Easily translate your compliance requirements for HIPAA, GDPR, and HITECH into actionable rules and policies, receiving notifications when data is copied or moved between regions. With Sentra, running compliance reports becomes a breeze, providing you with all the necessary evidence, including sensitive data types, regulatory controls, and compliance status for relevant regulatory frameworks.
Conclusion: From Perimeter Security to Continuous Data Governance
Healthcare organizations can no longer rely on perimeter-based controls or periodic audits to prevent data breaches. As PHI spreads across cloud platforms, business associates, and AI-driven workflows, the risk is no longer confined to a single system, it’s embedded in how data is accessed, shared, and reused.
Protecting PHI in 2026 requires continuous visibility into sensitive data and the ability to govern it throughout its lifecycle. This means understanding what regulated data exists, who has access to it, and how that access changes over time - across internal teams, third parties, and AI systems. Without this level of insight, compliance with HIPAA and other healthcare regulations becomes reactive, and incident response becomes disruptive by default.
A data-centric security model allows healthcare organizations to reduce their breach impact, limit regulatory exposure, and adopt AI safely without compromising patient trust. By shifting from static controls to continuous data governance, security and compliance teams can move from guessing where PHI lives to managing it with confidence.
To learn more about how you can enhance your data security posture, schedule a demo with one of our data security experts.
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Yair brings a wealth of experience in cybersecurity and data product management. In his previous role, Yair led product management at Microsoft and Datadog. With a background as a member of the IDF's Unit 8200 for five years, he possesses over 18 years of expertise in enterprise software, security, data, and cloud computing. Yair has held senior product management positions at Datadog, Digital Asset, and Microsoft Azure Protection.
