Hospices together with other healthcare providers have transitioned to a digital system of collecting and storing patient data, commonly referred to as an Electronic Medical Record (EMR) or Electronic Health Record (EHR). However, as these systems usually contain huge amounts of sensitive and confidential patient health information, this leaves hospices vulnerable to cybersecurity threats that can suspend or stop their operations. As Data Soft Logic is the software on your side, we give you the top three cybersecurity threats to your hospice EMR that you should watch out for.
Online data encryption ensures that sensitive patient data is secured and protected with limited exposure to leaks. However, it is a double-edged sword, as it also makes it harder for security analytics tools to detect breaches in your system. Thus, hackers can easily infiltrate the hospice’s network security without being discovered. To prevent this from happening, you should install additional security layers in your network that will monitor encrypted traffic and eliminate these blind spots.
Password security has never been more important than now. Cybercriminals usually use phishing schemes which come in the form of emails or alerts that ask users to divulge passwords. As such, it is vital that hospice staff take extra precautions in opening file sharing requests or any email asking for their access to sensitive data. A common approach that hospices adopt to prevent these scams is the two-step authentication which requires users to provide a code sent to another device before access is granted to their account.
Malware such as viruses, adware, and spyware are threats that are not only present in suspicious websites but also in those legitimate sites you regularly visit. Malware comes in different types. There are those that pull information from sites that a user is currently navigating and those which slow down your computer’s processing time, making it more difficult for you to access real-time data that will be needed for care provision. The most concerning types however are ransomware which can put your entire system on lockdown until you pay the hacker a specified amount. To avoid such incidents, hospices limit user permissions granted to staff as well as activities that can be performed on shared workplace computers. This ensures that employees’ access to websites which may include malware are limited. Another approach usually taken is investing in a good virus software.
It is not only the IT team that bears the responsibility of protecting the hospice’s EMR from these cybersecurity threats but should be a collective effort of the entire hospice from those in the office to the ones in the field. Policies and controls must be set in place and strictly followed by each employee. In addition, everyone on staff must know how to spot these attacks and report them to the IT team. Data Soft Logic, as your Intelligent Care Partner, ensures your HIPAA compliance peace of mind with our Security Features. Hospice Centre, our software solution designed for hospice care, is a permission-based software which limits your staff’s access to critical and sensitive patient information based on their defined roles in the organization. Find out the other ways Hospice Centre makes you more HIPAA-compliant and secure by scheduling a demo with us.
Reference:
The University of Southern California.
“Electronic Health Records | Read about Cybersecurity Concerns.” USC EMHA Online, 21 Dec. 2017, healthadministrationdegree.usc.edu/blog/cybersecurity-in-the-electronic-health-record-era/.
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