This Health care The industry is constantly evolving. Rapid technological advances have ensured better patient care and healthcare delivery over the past few years. Healthcare providers can now make informed decisions Artificial intelligence. However medical practitioners should make sure that all procedures are followed HIPAA While also giving patients the best treatment they deserve. The HIPAA, also known as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), ensures that patient data that is sensitive in nature is secure. As such, data security and privacy, HIPAA’s top priority, have become increasingly important in the healthcare sector.
Healthcare workers now have access to enabled patient data via the Internet. In addition, the Internet has allowed hackers to exploit system and abstract sensitive data. Cyber attacks threaten the health and safety of patients but can disrupt the entire healthcare system. In turn, this can lead to catastrophic consequences. With this in mind, organizations should take data security seriously and implement effective policies to prevent such attacks.
With the healthcare business gaining more and more support for its operations through technology and the Internet, data security problems are becoming more frequent.
1. Risk of Legacy Systems: With each passing day, legacy apps will expose businesses to data security attacks as hackers make rapid progress. Organizations need to keep pace with the latest technologies and systems, constantly upgrade themselves and avoid the risk of such attacks.
2. Password Security Risks: The main factor contributing to data breaches are weak passwords, as cited by IT professionals. Password vulnerabilities are usually caused by failure to comply with standards. Dangerous actors can gain network access in many ways using password vulnerabilities. Proper cyber hygiene should be maintained by medical organizations implementing passwords that are difficult to crack. Full security on data is only possible through password management.
3. Email scams With malware: Phishing attacks have stolen thousands of medical data and patient financial information. Cybercriminals often pretend to be known friends or reputable companies and send emails with viruses or send links to embedded phishing websites. The first step in avoiding such an attack is to stay informed and educated. Professionals should be trained to detect malicious emails and potentially dangerous messages. The need of the hour for data security teams is to keep an eye on trends in the industry and keep up to date with the latest attacks so that they can train their organizations to avoid such attacks.
4. Ignorance / Lack of Awareness: According to recent studies, the global average cost as a result of internal threats is as high as 11.45 million. It is often the ignorance of security practices and the lack of awareness of dangerous landscapes that cost organizations dearly. Gartner’s study on cyber security measures suggests that at least 60% of large enterprises / organizations are likely to implement comprehensive security awareness training programs with at least one dedicated full-time equivalent (FTE) for fulfillment. Healthcare organizations should ensure that all procedures and policies are maintained when dealing with patient data. Employees should also be adequately educated about the importance of adhering to protocol. Such best practices can help prevent unintentional breaches of security protocols.
5. Lack of restrictions on data and application access: Patient confidentiality is at the top of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), with greater emphasis on the security of such information. Sensitive patient information and complex applications should only be accessible to authorized users.
6. Restrictions on access to data: When patient information is kept uncontrolled, it poses significant risks. When it comes to patient data, organizations are concerned about data breaches and invasions of privacy, to name a few. Therefore, it is necessary to implement strict protocols to reduce such risks. Workstations should always be locked and protected. Data encryption is another way to ensure that it cannot be compromised while at rest or in transit.
Since the epidemic began, healthcare providers have been aggressively pursuing a virtual path to stay connected to patients and continue to provide services remotely. With the capacity to see about 50 to 175 times more patients, the telehealth is here to stay and change the landscape of the healthcare industry.
While our response is agile in the digital age of healthcare, we should also have security and privacy measures. Taking note of such challenges and working on them can protect businesses against such future attacks. While government regulations such as HIPAA and GDPR have a positive impact on data security for both patients and medical organizations, organizations must consistently comply with requirements and restrictions. Rules like HIPAA and GDPR are just the tip of the iceberg. Organizations should adhere to these rules to keep their systems safe and secure. Investing in the best in class infrastructure and network architecture, regular training of employees, data encryption and keeping yourself updated on risks are some of the practices that will help businesses stay safe.
Shankar Sunnathi, Senior Vice President – IT & Compliance, Omega Healthcare Management Services
