Hospital management seeking ways to protect patient records from cyber threats

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An article published recently in The Boston Globe discussed the medical community’s growing concern regarding data breach from cyber attackers. This comes on the tail of the latest news of 4.5 million patient records from Community Health Systems (CHS) allegedly stolen by Chinese hackers. If proven true, this would be the largest breach of patient data to date. Supposedly, the hackers did not gain access to specific medical information, such as treatment procedures and types of illnesses. Nevertheless, personal information, such as names, addresses, birthdates, phone numbers, and Social Security numbers were accessed. CHS is treating this case as an HIPAA violation.

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Criminals can use the stolen records to file fake insurance claims, get medical prescriptions, or sell Social Security numbers. What’s more, cyber hackers have developed sophisticated systems that bypass traditional security fail-safes. Most businesses have developed strategies to protect themselves from cyber threats, but the health industry has been lagging behind in terms of data security. This, perhaps, can be attributed to the general belief that certain areas are still held sacred by individuals or the fact that most hospitals are more concerned with delivering health care and not operational security. The growing number of theft and breaches nevertheless speak a different story.

To address this, management and administrative staff of health facilities are coming together to create better techniques to protect their records. Criminal intrusions mean not only a financial loss but represent the potential risk of misdiagnosis due to incorrect medical records. Health regulators urge staff members to make these improved procedures higher in their priority list. In the meantime, individuals are recommended to take extra measures to protect their own information and store a separate file of all their medical records.

Image Source: telegraph.co.uk

Dr. George Northrop, formerly of Danbury Hospital, is the current chief medical officer of the Sheik Khalifa General Hospital in Abu Dhabi. He has decades of experience in hospital management and administration. Like this Facebook page for more news and updates on the medical industry.