"Digital interaction with patients via smart devices and wearables brings a new level of productivity," says Paula Skokowski, a security expert at Accellion, a private cloud solutions company centered on secure file sharing and collaboration. "There is also a new level of concern for HIPAA compliance and safeguarding digital health records."
To ensure the safety of patients' records and other vital information, healthcare facilities may consider the various trends in the tech field and the way they impact the healthcare industry.
1. Technological innovations continue to enhance patient care. "For healthcare, mobile monitoring and data tracking capabilities will offer faster and more accurate diagnosis and treatment recommendations to improve patient care," explains Ms. Skokowski.
Medical professionals are prescribing patients wearables, fitness trackers and mobile apps to improve a patient's care and monitor their progress in between physician visits. The devices provide physicians data that is readily available at their fingertips, driving the market for healthcare technologies.
2. Certain measures can be implemented to safeguard patient information. With the influx of new devices utilized by medical professionals, providers are faced with seemingly endless dangers associated with wearable technologies. However, there is light at the end of the tunnel, and healthcare professionals can implement various steps to ensure their patients' information is safe from hackers.
"Healthcare providers can proactively prepare by developing policies that highlight when and where wearable video/audio recording capabilities are allowed," says Ms. Skokowski. "Private cloud storage that provides ownership of encryption keys is also a necessary measure to securely store and safeguard sensitive patient data."
3. Coordination between physicians and IT departments is crucial. Data breaches cost the healthcare system approximately $6 billion each year, and employee carelessness is often cited as a primary reason for data breaches. Physicians will continue to use technology that requires more personally identifiable information, which is highly coveted by hackers. Hackers can sell PIIs for 10 times the price of stolen credit card information. Thus, physicians should consider working directly with their IT department to prevent medical identity theft.
"The challenges of how and where to store the increasing amount of patient information is only growing," says Ms. Skokowski. "Physicians will need to work with their IT department on setting clear expectations and policies in order to protect patient information."
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