The healthcare industry is evolving with the rapid changes in health laws, public health status, patient needs, organizational structures, and digital technology.
Because of the massive amount of data online (big data), there’s a risk of leaking patient health information (PHI) across digital platforms, including social media and the dark web. The dark web is the largest part of the world wide web where hackers and cyber criminals trade information such as patient data to steal money, commit fraud, and scam people. Therefore, it’s a must for all professionals and organizations in the healthcare sector to find ways to protect medical privacy.
The solution to healthcare data vulnerabilities and threats is also technology. This article explains how technology can protect your medical privacy.
- Provides Robust Healthcare IT Security Solutions
Healthcare IT security is an indispensable solution to emerging medical privacy problems. Many IT companies offer this service to mitigate identity theft and fraudulent use of PHI.
A healthcare IT security company conducts the following technology-related tasks to protect medical privacy:
- Security Risk Assessments: A healthcare IT security company conducts risk analysis in compliance with medical privacy standards such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the electronic protected health information (ePHI).
- Security Program Advisory: A healthcare IT security company can create an information security program to help hospitals and other medical facilities deliver better patient care.
- Medical Device Security: A healthcare IT security company can analyze the risks of all digital devices and provide risk-mitigation recommendations.
- Disaster Recovery: A healthcare IT security company can provide disaster recovery in IT outages. In this way, medical facilities can protect and retrieve patient data without problems.
- Security Cost Management: Healthcare IT companies can consolidate software and hardware security vendors for better security at a reduced cost. Visit this website to learn more about healthcare IT security.
- Detects Cyber Vulnerabilities Through AI
The most common cyber vulnerabilities and threats that compromise medical privacy include data breaches in hospitals, other healthcare facilities, and mobile devices. Medical identity theft is also a big problem.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is a tool that can help broaden and sharpen human decision-making through intuitive software programs that mimic human logical reasoning. The healthcare industry can benefit from AI, especially when it comes to safeguarding patient health information.
Here’s a quick guide on how AI can help protect medical privacy:
- Monitor Vulnerabilities And Threats: Cybersecurity professionals who work for the healthcare industry can utilize AI to monitor, analyze, and catch suspicious activities such as phishing and stealing patient data. AI tools provide accurate data on the users, changes, and perceived threats in a healthcare facility’s business system, promptly alerting administrators and IT personnel.
- Address Current Privacy Issues: AI can alert security experts, enabling them to set appropriate measures such as encryption and unauthorized traffic block to resolve current privacy breaches and prevent another similar event from happening again.
- Predictive Analysis: Privacy problems due to cyber-war threaten patient information. It’s good that artificial intelligence can help in detecting and predicting cyber vulnerabilities and attacks that can compromise medical privacy.
- Automates Medical Forms And Processes
Clinical trials and hospital workflows use different forms such as patient, laboratory, and consent forms. Without a centralized, secure system to consolidate all clinical forms, there’s a risk of leaking information to the wrong hands.
Check out the following ways technology can help automate medical forms and processes:
- Using Clinical Trial Software: Technology can help safeguard medical privacy. For instance, clinical trial software can automate the creation of case report forms (CRFs) using templates with verification systems to ensure accurate patient data in clinical trials. This technology can help contract research organizations (CROs) secure PHI, focus on patients, and build more clinical studies.
- Embracing Cloud Technology: Cloud solutions are also available, providing encrypted forms and solutions for web-based and mobile telemedicine or telehealth applications. With cloud technology, doctors can create their own telehealth app to help patients book appointments and keep patient records securely in one place.
- Deploying Cryptography: Cryptography refers to using codes to protect information based on algorithms or rule-based calculations, transforming messages in hard-to-decipher ways. These algorithms are used for verification, digital signing, and cryptographic key generation to protect confidential communications, internet browsing, and data privacy.
Conclusion
The advancement in technology protects medical privacy in various healthcare facilities. With healthcare IT solutions, artificial intelligence, and other technologies, medical workers and businesses can safeguard PHI and other relevant medical information against cybercriminals. In that way, the healthcare sector can provide better medical services. Consider the ideas mentioned here as you plan and prepare.
About the Author/s
The New Jersey Digest is a new jersey magazine that has chronicled daily life in the Garden State for over 10 years.
