Information security has been among the most widely discussed topics in the healthcare sector for the past several years running, as regulators in Washington and advocacy group officials work to tighten up best practices, standards and compliance requirements. Data breaches have been widespread, impacting millions of patients over the past several years, and some of the more massive events in cybersecurity history have hit in the past 12 months alone.
So many factors are making it more difficult than ever before to maintain strong compliance with federal regulations, ensure optimal efficiency of operations and secure all patient data all in one fell swoop, especially as so many new technologies are hitting the market. This is among the many reasons why healthcare providers have begun to leverage a full range of managed services, specifically those that support IT staff with compliance and security responsibilities.
The fact remains that compliance is going to continue to shift rapidly, threats will build and the damages associated with major breaches will rise as time goes on, all of which has been evidenced by a wealth of research on relevant matters facing the industry. With secure cloud, email encryption and other protective solutions provided by reliable vendors, though, the associated issues can often be mitigated a bit more smoothly and efficiently in health care and beyond.
New updates
Health IT Security recently reported that the decision made by Congress to end information blocking might come with several significant risks for patient data, and has already started to evoke commentary from leading groups in the medical field. This is the latest news in a long line of stories regarding the work being done to better balance accessibility and security, as striking the right chord can be somewhat problematic but is necessary to at once boost patient care and protect sensitive information.
According to the news provider, members of the American Society of Clinical Oncology made a statement to Congress that was in favor of putting an end to information blocking given the interoperability and accessibility issues medical firms are facing when trying to deliver care. And while this is certainly a righteous reason for such statements and statures in the medical field, many have worried about the security implications of banning information blocking from the sector.
The source spoke to Intel Fellow Eric Dishman regarding this matter.
"It's still under their control and hopefully they've got the right security in place for the data center," Dishman told Health IT Security. "And it's also protecting whoever is doing the query. If a researcher is using that, and they have a really interesting algorithm or new drug they're doing research on, they don't want to share with all of these other places. So that secure container is really connecting both parties. But the moment it's left your data center, that secure container then dissipates any data that was used, and just the results go back to the host institution."
Striking a balance
One of the best ways to ensure data is accessible and secure is to modernize protective frameworks and general information governance strategies, while fortifying backend systems such as infrastructure and communications solutions. A secure cloud might be the best possible option out there, as skilled specialists will be tasked with handling the general management demands of the technology itself, while ensuring that authorized users have access to necessary information at the click of a button.
As long as a medical firm identifies the right managed service provider, striking the right balance can be an easier process.
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