5 Keys to Protecting Your Healthcare Organization from Cybercrimes

Cybercrimes are a threat to every industry under the sun. Unfortunately, however, the healthcare industry is by and far the biggest target of cybersecurity incidents. In 2016, almost 90 percent of all ransomware attacks in the United States hit the healthcare industry. These attacks are costly and dangerous for both the healthcare providers and their patients.

In the large majority of healthcare cybercrimes, employee negligence is to blame. With such a substantial threat, many are probably wondering why it is that healthcare organizations fail to address this monumental problem. Most notably is healthcare companies’ lack of budget dedicated to cybersecurity. But with the value of healthcare data skyrocketing on the black market, healthcare organizations must address cybercrimes and their mounting impact.

Healthcare systems today are getting more and more complex to better serve patients with enhanced and more accessible data. While this is an incredible technology advancement, far too many organizations and practices are failing to place adequate value on security.

Preventing Cyberattacks in the Healthcare Industry

EHR systems today have massively improved the level of patient care throughout the world. Things like patient records and lab results are finally being stored in an accessible, easy to navigate manner. This has transformed medical treatment of all kinds for both healthcare providers and patients alike. But like any new technology, there are certainly pitfalls. The healthcare industry spends an estimated $5.6 billion annually due to data breaches. Clearly, it’s time to make a change.

From malware to phishing attacks and from cloud threats to employee errors, there seems to be a threat at every turn. And the reality is that completely preventing cyberattacks is close to impossible. However, there are absolutely steps that can be taken to place healthcare organizations in a better position to protect their patients and themselves from cybercrimes.

The following are some of the major keys to protecting your healthcare organization from cybercrimes:

1. Focus on mobile devices and smart equipment: as healthcare providers go more and more mobile, it is critical to deploy security measures like encryption to keep the information on the mobile devices secure
2. Train your people: employee errors are often the cause of a cyberattack, so introduce cybersecurity education and training into the culture of the company
3. Move to the cloud: EHR cloud migration offers the flexibility and security that healthcare data depends on, plus it makes it easy to scale resources without adding to cost
4. Think about entry points: understanding where the organization is vulnerable means addressing the threat at entry points such as unauthorized software downloads, unsecure email files and contaminated thumb drives
5. Make sure your vendor is compliant: EHR vendors must take HIPAA compliancy seriously and operate the EHR system accordingly

The collection and storage of medical data is serious business. In the eyes of a cybercriminal, the value of healthcare data is greater than that of retail or financial data. This makes EHRs vulnerable to a wide variety of cyberattacks. Being aware of the rising threat of cyberattacks in the healthcare space is the first step to creating a preventative plan that actually works.

At MDH Insight, we are committed to taking the pain out of EHR data migration and EHR conversions so that our clients can continue the delivery of quality care to their patients. For more information or a free EHR system assessment, contact us today!