Medical records contain a wealth of confidential and private information relating to a patient's health. Yet healthcare organizations have been inefficient in their security measures for medical information.
Through years of studies, the Ponemon research institute has consistently found that healthcare organizations have a high probability of violating medical records.
Worse still, Ponemon said that there is a high probability that if a hospital or medical service provider had their medical records breached, they wouldn't know about it.
In a study released in 2016, it was reported that half of all healthcare organizations had little or no confidence in their ability to detect the full picture of patient data loss or theft.
In addition, the study found that half of all healthcare organizations felt unsure whether they had sufficient technologies to prevent or detect unauthorized access to patient data, or the loss or theft of patient records.
Many healthcare organizations don't have the right tools to know when a breach has occurred
In 2017, more than 5.6 million Americans suffered a medical records breach, in which their records were stolen or exposed, according to data released last year by Protenus and DataBreaches.net.
Here in Brazil, data on 16 million patients with a suspected or confirmed diagnosis of Covid-19 was recently released by the Ministry of Health. In addition to data such as CPF, address and telephone number, patients had information about chronic diseases and health conditions exposed.
According to Ponemon's research statistics, the cost of a data breach rises \"exponentially\" the longer it takes for an organization to identify a medical records breach and contain it.
Most hackers are opportunists and, through their methods, are able to find healthcare organizations with vulnerabilities. While large healthcare organizations are vulnerable to a medical records breach, smaller operations are just as susceptible.
To avoid a breach of medical records, organizations must conduct a thorough assessment and prioritization of potential risks. By dealing with 10% of the most critical risks initially, healthcare institutions \"tend to be ahead of the game\" and can address many potential risks.
Once the risk is assessed, an organization needs to build governance and control processes, which can focus on awareness
In this way, organizations can start researching technologies and processes that may be available to help prevent medical record breaches.
In the event of a medical records breach within an organization, there are two main steps to be taken to resolve the problem.
1. identify the violation
Healthcare institutions should have a compliance program in which they are monitoring to ensure that key systems are working and that there are no major vulnerabilities, such as unpatched software security updates.
Therefore, the first step is to identify vulnerabilities before incidents occur.
2. Report the incident
Once the violation has been identified, it must be made public. The medical organization needs to communicate to its patients, the victims of the violation. Do this in a way that is unambiguous and honest. Give them information on how to protect themselves from the consequences of the breach.
A breach of medical records can damage the system as a whole, costing the healthcare institution its reputation and potentially financial damage to the patient
However, there is even more at stake than records when it comes to violations within a healthcare organization.
There are issues that mean it may be more important than ever to maintain a high level of security. The future of health privacy and security depends on an organization's ability to think proactively to manage emerging risks, which are very significant.
Contact the experts at Conversys now and find out about Aruba Networks' security, network management and connectivity solutions. We're on hand to help you overcome new challenges.
About Conversys
Conversys IT Solutions is a provider of Information and Communication Technology services and solutions operating throughout Brazil.
With a highly qualified technical and commercial team and a network of partners that includes the main global technology manufacturers, Conversys IT Solutions is able to deliver customized IT and Telecom Infrastructure solutions to clients.
We invest in our employees and partners and strive for a long-lasting relationship with our clients, because we believe that this is how we gain the skills and knowledge we need to innovate and generate value for the businesses in which we operate.
