Have you had time to research IT security and how it can impact your healthcare company? If you haven’t, don’t worry, we’ve identified some of the risks and have listed some suggestions to help you get started:
1. Almost Half of All Healthcare Companies Have Had 1 Data Security Incident in the Past Year
Did you catch that? Nearly half! Even though security measures have gotten stronger than ever, you’re still at significant risk. As hard as IT companies and teams work at security, hackers work just as hard at breaking through. And hackers don’t have any laws they have to consider…but you do!
2. More Healthcare Companies Have Cyber Security Insurance than Ever
What are you going to do if your name hits the headlines? That’s going to cause damage to your reputation for years, whether you want it to or not. And who knows what your financial fallout will be from that? You may want to consider carrying cyber security insurance…just in case everything else goes wrong.
3. 42% of All 2014 Data Breaches Happened in Healthcare
…And the FBI predicts things will intensify throughout 2015. 1/3 of all cyber-attacks will succeed, the FBI adds. Healthcare information is increasingly digitizing, and cyber criminals are doing everything in their power to prey on healthcare companies.
4. 80% of All Health Data Will Pass Through the Cloud by 2020
Right now, some bash the cloud’s level of security. By 2020, it may be more secure than most private networks. But for now, even though the cloud is more scalable and cost-effective than most private networks, it can still struggle with security.
5. Employees Continue to be a Major Security Threat
Some healthcare IT leaders believe employee behavior will cause more security issues than external threats in coming years. We don’t know if that’s the case. But, human error certainly accounts for many data security breaches. And it’s reasonable to expect this trend to continue. Identify a baseline for the number of employee behaviors that risk security each month. Create regular training and a reward system, to reduce those errors.
6. More Ways to Access Health Information Means More Potential for Security Breaks
Consumers are demanding more ways to access their health information. Online portals are increasing in availability. It’ll be interesting to see what innovation brings to the marketplace. Will patients eventually be able to have a Facebook-like interface to interact with medical professionals? If you do add more ways to access information, consider how you’re going to secure those.
Time will tell what happens but at the very least you should be researching ways to protect your data and your reputation in the healthcare industry.
