IT Security in Healthcare: Medical Practice Compliance

Summary: Healthcare IT compliance is crucial to the success of a medical practice and is directly tied to the practice’s IT security. The more devices that are connected to the medical practice’s computer network, the larger the attack surface area becomes, since each device (such as computers, tablets, phones, printers, cameras, monitoring equipment, servers, routers and more) has its own vulnerabilities. It is important to protect the private patient and employee data that is stored and transmitted within the network to reduce the risk of cyberattacks and regulatory penalties.

A professional network assessment, detailed incident response plan and regular security awareness training for all those who access the network is essential to robust network data security. Medical practices are valuable targets for cybercriminals. Healthcare organizations collect and store a large amount of private data related to their patients and employees. Names, addresses, phone numbers, birthdays, driver’s licenses, family contact information, medical diagnosis and Social Security numbers are just a few of the vulnerable data points hackers hope to compromise. They may use this information to steal directly from bank accounts and credit cards, steal identities or sell information (repeatedly) on the dark web to other criminals. They may also hold data for ransom payments from you and your patients, threatening to release it if the money is not paid.

Cyberattacks are expensive and time consuming. In addition to recovery costs and lost time, you will also have legal fees, notification and credit monitoring costs, harm to reputation and may face the loss of patients, employes and partners. On top of that, you will face regulatory fines for every record breached, along with heightened scrutiny from regulators. Some practices cannot recover from these ongoing financial and productivity losses.

Medical Cybersecurity: Do You Have an Incident Response Plan?

It is estimated that more than one-third of medical practices do not have sufficient cyber protections today. Also, almost 60% of healthcare organizations that have fallen victim to a ransomware attack have experienced disruptions in patient care and have lost access to vital medical patient records and specialized diagnostic tools. To exacerbate the problem, over one-third of healthcare organizations did not have a cyber incident response plan (IRP), which contributes to the confusion during an attack and causes delays in recovery.

IT security in healthcare constantly evolves as hackers devise new ways to breach medical data. When your practice’s healthcare network security is breached, it is vital to have a comprehensive, up-to-date incident response plan (IRP) in place along with robust data protection. Data protection should include segmenting files to prevent hackers from accessing everything. Data can also be encrypted so that if the network is breached, a cybercriminal will only see gibberish. Data protection must address data in use, data in transit and data in storage.

Most small medical practices do not have the in-house IT expertise required to create a good IRP. Also, healthcare IT compliance with HIPAA laws is complicated, and the fines and repercussions from violations can be financially onerous and time-consuming. Hiring professional medical IT services and practice support is a cost-effective way to document that your practice complies and clinicians and support staff know what steps must be taken in the event of a cyberattack. The main elements of an incident response plan are:

• Identify Vulnerabilities – The first step in planning an IRP is to have professional medical cybersecurity specialists perform a risk assessment to identify potential vulnerabilities.
• Assign Roles – Everyone on your staff needs to know in writing what their roles will be in the event of a cyberattack.
• Implementation of Monitoring System – IT security in healthcare professionals can set up a monitoring system for early breach detection. Software designed to detect anomalies in your network traffic send alerts to a live security operations center where each threat is evaluated by specialists. If further action is warranted, your IT security technician will respond and take action. (Free or “off-the-shelf” security software is insufficient to protect a medical practice’s data assets.)
• Containing, Removing and Recovering from an Attack – Time is of the essence, especially in the event of a ransomware attack. When a threat has been identified, it is vital to contain the breach as soon as possible and prevent any more data from being compromised. Once contained, the goal is to completely eradicate the breach and remaining malware and work with your medical IT consultant to recover from the attack and be fully operational with clean data as quickly as possible.
• Establish Communication Channels – It is crucial that everyone in your practice knows who they must contact and stay in communication with in the event of a cyberattack. To comply with IT security in healthcare laws, detailed logs must be maintained regarding the attack for future reporting.
• Post-Incident Analysis – After recovering from a breach, it is imperative to review all the actions taken after the attack was identified. This will help your healthcare network security specialist to decide what steps must be taken to improve your practice’s incident response. It is also essential for cyber liability insurance claim documentation.

Medical Device Cyber Security

Medical office technology for small practices continues to advance by leaps and bounds. However, adding new medical devices and technologies makes robust and compliant cyber security more complicated. Every new device connected to your practice’s network represents a potentially vulnerable endpoint through which cybercriminals can access your system and breach your medical data. Healthcare network security experts should be enlisted to lock down all endpoints as soon as they are connected to the practice network. There are so many different parts to healthcare and medical device cyber security that it is easy for practice administrators to feel overwhelmed. That is why consulting medical device cyber security experts is so important. Healthcare IT compliance must be supported by a holistic approach to your practice’s healthcare network security. Outsourcing your medical IT and cyber security is very cost-effective compared to the costs of a cyberattack, including:

• Disruptions in Patient Care due to inaccessibility of patient records – Loss of revenue and profits
• Device Malfunctions and Failures – repairs and replacements
• Delays in Patient Critical Procedures – Some medical conditions require prompt attention and or surgeries that cannot be delayed without risking patient health
• Loss of Reputation – Patients need to trust a medical practice to protect their private data and be able to treat them on a timely basis
• Fines and Legal fees related to non-compliance and lawsuits – If you have a small medical practice, HIPPA fines, legal fees and lawsuit awards can lead to bankruptcy.

Additional Steps for Small Medical Practice IT Security

In addition to the technical network security items that a medical practice IT consultant will manage, there are additional IT security layers that will help reduce risk, including:

Password Policies – Set written password policies that management and staff must comply with. These policies include creating strong passwords, use of multi-factor authentication (MFA) protection for all accounts, not sharing passwords with anyone and use of a password manager to manage passwords and monitor for their exposure in known data breaches.

Access Control – Grant data access to only those who need it to perform their job. The bookkeeper does not need access to personnel files and a nurse does not need access to practice financial software. The fewer employees with access to data the better, especially if an employee falls victim to a phishing scam and inadvertently shares a password or login.

Third-Party Security Vetting – The medical practice is responsible for the data protection actions of third-party vendors like accountants, billing companies and consultants that access the network data. Ensure they have security awareness training, proof of strong network security and that you remove access and update passwords when their work has been completed.

IT Security in Healthcare Practices: Key Takeaways

IT security for healthcare is complicated. Medical professionals are trained in their specialty and should not be expected to master cyber security or understand how to protect a network medical network against cyberattacks. Your business is too important to jeopardize via DIY guesswork. Healthcare IT outsourcing services for medical offices are crucial to the ongoing success of your small medical practice. Outsourced, managed services are affordable and are typically based on the number of computer “seats” in the practice. This scalability aligns with practice growth and is helpful for budgeting and planning.