When it comes to the post-COVID-19 post-pandemic era, healthcare organizations and hospitals have been the victim of several frauds. This sector is an easy target for cybercriminals as healthcare services are now being delivered remotely across the globe.
Dr. Michael Coppola – The need to protect healthcare data from cybercriminals
Dr. Michael Coppola, MD, is a widely respected Pulmonologist based in Glen Burnie, MD. He has more than 43 years of rich experience in the field of medicine and specializes in sleep apnea. He completed his graduation from the Georgetown University School of Medicine in 1978.
Protecting data in the healthcare industry is a mammoth task
He says in the healthcare industry, the protection of data is no simple feat. Business associates and healthcare providers should balance patient privacy while delivering quality care to their patients. They should also meet all the stringent regulations laid down by HIPAA and other regulations like the General Data Protection Regulation in the EU.
Huge fines and penalties are regularly imposed
He states that safeguarded health information is among any individual’s sensitive and private data. The guidelines for healthcare organizations and providers that manage the use or transmission of patient information cover strict data protection needs accompanied by huge penalties and fines if they are not met, he says.
Data must be secure and accessible
Rather than making specific technologies mandatory, HIPAA needs covered entities to make sure that the information of the patient is accessible and secure only by people that have been authorized to do so; however, it is up to every entity covered to determine the nature of security measures for employing the above objectives.
Taking a protective approach towards healthcare data
Due to the surging regulatory needs for the protection of healthcare data, organizations that embrace a proactive approach for implementing the best practices for healthcare security are the best equipped for increased compliance at a much-reduced risk of suffering expensive breaches of data.
Every healthcare organization and hospital need to embrace the best practices for IT security
He says that every healthcare organization should embrace the following practices when it comes to protecting healthcare data-
- Educating their healthcare staff,
- Restricting access to applications and data,
- Data encryption,
- Implementing controls for data usage,
- Monitoring and logging use,
- Security of mobile devices,
- Optimizing off-site backups,
- Securing mobile devices,
- Carrying out frequent risk assessments, and
- Removing risks to connected devices.
Dr. Michael Coppola says that cyber attacks are a surging threat across sensitive infrastructure industries, making the issue deeply concerning. These attacks directly affect system security and information. It also extends to the safety and health of patients in America.
He concludes by saying that healthcare organizations and hospitals are constantly under threat, and there is no organization in this industry that can actually escape reality. He says technology will only work for healthcare organizations and industries only when it is secure.
