As healthcare spending continues to rise, so too does the inherent risk for bad actors to take advantage. Today, the United States is estimated to spend nearly 18 percent of its GDP, or $3.6 trillion, on healthcare, and is expected to increase to one-fifth of GDP within the next decade, according to the latest data. This alone provides ample motivation for fraud and abuse. While the full extent of healthcare fraud is difficult to measure, The National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association
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Death by Ransomware: Poor Healthcare Cybersecurity
If hackers attack your organization and you’re in an industry such as financial services, engineering, or manufacturing your risks are mostly monetary. But when it comes to healthcare cybersecurity, not only is there significant financial jeopardy, people’s health and wellbeing are also at risk so the stakes are much, much higher. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, there has been an almost 50 percent increase in healthcare cybersecurity data breaches between February
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Gaps in Clinical Communication, Document Exchange Lead to Gaps in Care
Communication problems and inadequate information flow are two of the most common root causes of medical errors. The potential for miscommunication and faulty exchange of information in healthcare is substantial. Consider: patient information is dispersed among multiple providers and payers along the continuum of care. Electronic Health Records (EHRs) and other clinical systems do not capture patient information or format medical documentation in a standardized manner. In an environment with
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COVID-19 Exposed The True Vulnerability of Healthcare Infrastructure
In 2019, 41 million patient records breached in 572 reported incidents at an average cost of $1.8 million per breach. These statistics are far from surprising with healthcare records selling for a reported average of $45 on the dark web. Unfortunately, the year 2020 aggravated these issues as COVID-19 exposed the true vulnerability of the healthcare infrastructure. Organizations not only had to manage the medical and financial impacts of the pandemic but also the security risks inherent in the
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3 Telemedicine Security and Compliance Best Practices
The coronavirus pandemic accelerated telemedicine exponentially as patients and doctors switched from in-person visits to remote consultations. Health providers rapidly scaled virtual offerings in March and April and traffic volumes soared to unprecedented levels, with practices “seeing 50 to 175 times the number of patients by telehealth than before the outbreak,” according to McKinsey. By early August, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services expanded the list of
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Cybersecurity: Managing Risk in the COVID-19 Era
Healthcare IT consultants’ work involving health records may expose them – and their provider and payer clients – to regulatory, legal, financial, and reputational risk. These risks are potentially higher in the COVID-19 era, with many of their employees working from home and accessing sensitive records and networks from remote locations. According to the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), there is a heightened risk of phishing, SMS phishing and other attacks using COVID-19 themes, and
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Telehealth and Cybersecurity: What You Should Know
Healthcare providers are seeing between 50 and 175 times (1) more patients via telehealth than before. Telehealth platforms* offer solutions for a wide array of different healthcare issues. An estimated 20 percent of all emergency room visits and 24 percent of routine office visits and outpatient volume could be delivered virtually via telehealth. Telehealth is a win-win for providers and patients. It both increases the availability of care while also reducing costs. However, telemedicine
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Do We Know When Medical Devices Fail?
Since 2015, the FDA and the US Department of Homeland Security have been releasing warnings about products that due to their vulnerabilities threaten patient safety. This includes MRI machines and drug infusion pumps that supply patients with a wide diversity of drugs, including insulin, antibiotics, chemotherapy drugs, and pain relievers. The interconnectivity of smart devices with medical clinical systems leaves them vulnerable to security breaches just like any other networked computing
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Solving Healthcare’s Data Challenges With Storage-As-A-Service
Managing healthcare data is a special kind of a nightmare for IT professionals. First, the industry is highly regulated. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requires strict attention to a complex set of rules governing access, security and privacy. A failure to follow them can result in heavy fines and ruined careers.
Then, there’s the problem of capacity, because, in healthcare, not only is the amount of data doubling every two to three years, but individual files
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Accounting for Inherent Vulnerabilities in Healthcare Blockchain Adoption
In the digital economy, every industry runs on data. In the healthcare industry, there is no greater need than to have total view and capitalization of data. But this need inherits others—the need for security, transparency, and interoperability.
In an industry rife with inefficiencies and systemic vulnerabilities (e.g. counterfeit prescription drugs), the benefits of using blockchain to address these needs cannot be ignored. The application of this technology will provide secure
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