Recent cybersecurity events triggered the loss of patient, financial or organizational data for about 1 in 5 healthcare organizations, a new survey reveals.
If you feel overwhelmed by the possibility of a future data breach, you’re not alone. Turns out 42% of healthcare leaders and information security officers believe there are too many emerging and new threats to track them all, according to the 2015 HIMSS Cybersecurity Survey.
“The recent breaches in the healthcare industry have been a wake-up call that patient and other data are valuable targets and healthcare organizations need a laser focus on cybersecurity threats,” says Lisa Gallagher, HIMSS Vice President of Technology Solutions.
Technology and Team Issues
Your medical group might feel unsure about security protections that have been pieced together or added over time. The survey revealed healthcare organizations use an average of 11 different technologies to secure their environment. Hiring a security expert to consolidate your strategies or outsourcing all your data protection to a firm that focuses solely on data security are possible solutions.
Interestingly, more than half of healthcare organizations have hired full-time cybersecurity personnel recently. However, a majority feels even that may not be enough — 64% reported that a lack of such personnel is a barrier to addressing future events.
Possible High-Level Solution
It may be no surprise, therefore, that most respondents report only an “average level of confidence” in their organization’s capabilities to protect data and IT infrastructure. So how to reassure staff — and patients — that you’re taking appropriate measures to protect sensitive medical and operational data?
It could be time to move from office server data storage to the additional protections of the cloud.
A version of this post originally appeared on CareCloud.com.
