Data security has become the greatest challenge today in the digital world. Every organization wants to keep its data secured. Data security is very important in all fields and healthcare is one of them. Data of the patients need to be kept secured and prevent from being misused. It is important to follow the guidelines and rules imposed by HIPAA.
Healthcare sector is adopting advanced technologies at a fast pace. Due to this, it becomes very important to secure the data. Cyberattacks in healthcare are increasing which makes it very crucial to protect the sensitive information of the patients which has become vulnerable to misuse. All the patients' data is stored digitally in mobile phones, computers, and laptops by the doctors and nurses.
This data is also exchanged between different doctors and hospitals. In order to protect it and lower the risks of data attacks it is very important to have a strong data security system in the healthcare sector.
In this blog, we will discuss some of the methods to secure data. Let's get started right away.
What is healthcare data security?
Healthcare data security means protecting the data related to patients and other important data related to healthcare from cyber attacks and unauthorized access. It means creating creative solutions to protect the data from internal as well as expected external risks.
Why is the security of data important?
The healthcare sector has various sensitive data records which includes patients' health records, credit card numbers, and other payment details which can be misused by people in various ways. It contains the financial details of patients and other personal details. All this information can be used to hack the financial accounts of individuals or sell this information on the dark web to earn money.
Hence, it becomes very important to keep healthcare data secured and to have a strong and secured system.
Challenges of healthcare data security-
1- Error in technology adoption
2- Hackers trying to hack the site and all your sensitive data for their benefit and misuse the data.
3- Data being exchanged digitally to different people and hospitals makes it more prone to be hacked and misused.
4- Old technology in hospitals which makes it easy to be hacked.
5- Out of support technology which means that the provider of the technology will not do anything about the security flaws.
6- Using public wifi makes your data vulnerable.
7- Use of mobile devices to keep the medical data without multi factor authentication.
8- Another challenge is the insider threat where the employees themselves might try to steal confidential data.
Best practices for safeguarding the healthcare data
Carrying out risk assessments regularly
Healthcare organisations must regularly assess the potential risks to make sure that the data is secured. If any risk is found appropriate action must be taken otherwise data breaches may lead to huge losses to the organisation and can hamper your reputation.
Encrypt the data
It is one of the biggest concerns of the healthcare sector. All the data that is stored or exchanged must be kept in encrypted form. As per HIPAA guidelines also the organizations are required to keep the data of the patients in encrypted form only.
Following HIPAA standards
Another thing to do is that the organizations need to follow the standards prescribed.
Strengthen user authentication
This will help to ensure who is allowed to access the data and who is not. This will help the company to know who is accessing the data. This will keep your documents and information safe and secured.
Using secure devices
Another thing which can be done is to make sure the devices where data is stored and from where the data is being accessed is secured and virus free. Virtual private networks can be used to lower the risks.
Final words
It becomes very important to make sure that the data is secured and free from any risks otherwise it will not only lead to financial losses to organizations but also impact your reputation. Patients' health and personal information are also prone to being misused if the data is not secured. Hence, it has become a crucial concern to ensure healthcare data security.
Hvantage Technologies provides all healthcare services to hospitals, clinics, pathology labs & other healthcare providers with world class health care IT solutions.