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The healthcare industry has been in the news recently for a number of devastating cybersecurity breaches. Most notably, UnitedHealth Group subsidiary Change Healthcare experienced a data breach in February 2024.
This massive cyberattack compromised protected health information for millions of Americans. It also left both healthcare providers and insurers reeling with systems offline.
Healthcare organizations are often targeted by cybercriminals due to the large volume of sensitive patient information they store. Unfortunately, many healthcare providers have fallen behind when it comes to implementing cybersecurity strategies.
As a healthcare provider, you have an ethical and legal responsibility to prevent data breaches. Here’s how healthcare organizations can identify potential vulnerabilities and keep data safe.
Key Takeaways
- Healthcare providers are often targeted by cybercriminals due to the large volume of protected health information they collect.
- Strategies like data encryption and access management can help you keep your healthcare data secure.
- Providing regular cybersecurity training for all your employees can help you avoid accidental data breaches.
Identifying Data Breach Risks in Healthcare
Healthcare organizations collect a wide range of secure patient data as part of their operations. This can include patients’ birthdays, Social Security numbers, payment and insurance information, and identifying health information.
This information is often targeted by cyber criminals as part of a broader identity theft campaign.
There are many potential sources of data breaches. These include:
- Cyberattacks: This is when cyber criminals use malware, phishing, or more complex hacking strategies to breach your systems and access patient records.
- Human Error: This is when an employee accidentally exposes protected or sensitive information to a third party.
- Insider threats: This is when an employee, service partner, or other insider at your organization reveals sensitive information or grants access to your systems on purpose. This is most often done as a form of retaliation by a disgruntled employee.
Data breaches can have serious negative consequences for healthcare providers. The average cost of a healthcare data breach is approximately $11 million, and they can result in weeks or even months of downtime.
Additionally, a data breach can result in fines and legal consequences for failing to adhere to HIPAA.
On top of that, you could suffer long-term damage to your reputation, making it difficult to attract patients in the future.
Today’s patients are highly concerned about privacy — one study found that 95% of patients are concerned that their healthcare records will be leaked in a data breach.
How to Create a Strong Security Policy in Healthcare
Preventing data breaches starts with a strong cybersecurity policy for your healthcare organization. This policy should specify how electronic health records and other sensitive data are to be handled.
This could include limiting access to specific staff members, requiring multi-factor authentication, conducting regular data backups, and more.
In order for this security policy to work, you’ll need buy-in from your entire organization. This starts with a strong commitment to cybersecurity from leadership and a willingness to invest in appropriate technology and security measures.
This also requires cooperation from your third-party vendors and other operational partners.
A key part of any healthcare security policy is conducting regular audits and risk assessments. These are comprehensive examinations of your systems to identify potential vulnerabilities. These assessments should also inspire changes in your cybersecurity systems.
Finally, healthcare cybersecurity strategies should always be built with HIPAA compliance in mind. For many organizations, the easiest way to do this is to work with an expert HIPAA consultant or hire a full-time compliance specialist.
This person can identify and fix potential compliance issues, and they can also work with your staff to prevent accidental privacy breaches.
How to Use Technology to Secure Data
Implementing the right technology goes a long way toward preventing data breaches and other cyber threats. You’ll need to secure both your system hardware and software to make sure data doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.
Data Encryption
Cybersecurity starts with data encryption for all medical records, financial data, and other sensitive information. Encryption uses cryptography to make sensitive data unreadable to people outside of your systems.
In addition to encrypting your systems, you should also make sure sensitive emails are encrypted so data isn’t breached in transit.
Access Controls
The next step is to put secure access controls in place. In addition to requiring a username and password, consider implementing multi-factor authentication.
This requires employees to provide a third piece of authentication to log in, usually a code sent to their phone or email.
This adds an extra layer of protection so no one has unauthorized access to your data. Be conservative when giving employees access to your systems. E
ach employee should only have access to the data they need to do their jobs, rather than having access to the whole system.
Anti-Malware and Anti-Virus Software
All devices in your network should use anti-malware and anti-virus software. These software programs identify potential sources of malware, stopping these security risks before they can damage your systems.
These software programs work by scanning downloads, incoming email attachments, and other potential sources of malware.
If malware is identified, the software program deletes the file or quarantines it in a safe digital location to keep it from spreading.
Anti-malware and anti-virus software programs should be updated on a regular basis. This is because hackers frequently develop new forms of malware, so you’ll need the latest preventative software to catch them.
VPNs and Firewalls
VPNs and firewalls are both powerful technologies that can add an extra layer of defense to your systems.
A firewall is a security system that filters traffic in and out of your systems. It identifies and blocks unusual web traffic to prevent cybercriminals from accessing your systems. Every healthcare organization should have a firewall in place for safety and privacy.
A virtual private network, or VPN, is a protective tool that encrypts a user’s internet connection, filtering it through a remote server with a new IP address.
When using a VPN, other users on your network cannot see your activity. VPNs are particularly important for healthcare organizations with remote or hybrid workers who may need to use public Wi-Fi networks.
Employee Data Security Training
Providing cybersecurity training for your employees can go a long way toward keeping your systems safe. Since so many aspects of healthcare are handled digitally these days, all your employees should have an understanding of cybersecurity best practices, regardless of their role.
In particular, your team needs to learn how to identify and avoid phishing attacks and other forms of social engineering. Phishing is when a cyber criminal poses as a trusted contact in an attempt to get access to your systems.
Conducting ongoing phishing simulations can help your team learn how to spot these malicious messages. This can also help you identify which employees need more training.
Your employees should also be familiar with best practices for password management and access controls. This includes requiring your employees to change their passwords periodically, and showing them how to create strong passwords that hackers can’t guess.
Finally, you should have protocols in place for your healthcare staff to report security incidents. Everyone should know how to document security incidents and who to report them to.
You should also encourage healthcare staff to report potential data breaches as soon as possible to maximize response time.
How to Develop an Incident Response Plan
Even with a strong data protection strategy, security breaches can still happen. It’s crucial for healthcare organizations to have an incident response plan in place so you can act swiftly and minimize damage in these situations.
Your incident response plan should cover several important components.
- It should specify which systems and devices to recover first, how to access data backups, and how to secure compromised systems.
- It should also specify who should handle each task in a disaster.
- Once you’ve created your incident response plan, be sure to test it to make sure it works smoothly. Use the results of the test to fine-tune the plan.
- Additionally, be sure to update your incident response plan periodically to account for changes to your systems.
How Can an IT Service Provider Help You With Healthcare Data Security?
Working with a managed IT services provider can help your healthcare organization prevent data breaches and other security incidents.
These professional IT service providers are made up of technology and cybersecurity experts who can provide a wide range of IT services.
This includes conducting system audits, building a cybersecurity strategy, configuring your IT infrastructure, and providing 24/7 real-time system monitoring and incident response.
