The advent of new medical technologies and a growing number of devices connected to the Internet of Things have created an influx of available patient information for healthcare providers to store and protect. Many organizations are having difficulty employing sufficient security protocols and client information is paying the price.
A recent study by BitSight Technologies ranked the cybersecurity methods employed by organizations in healthcare below that of retail and other industries. Researchers analyzed the performance of groups in the finance, utilities, retail and health sectors within the S&P 500 from April 2013 to March 2014 and found that, overall, healthcare companies scored 660 out of a possible 900. While medical organizations had the most security problems, they also took the longest to respond to cyberattacks – an average of 5.3 days – which resulted in their low ranking.
According to Judy Hanover, an analyst who covers healthcare for market intelligence firm IDC, medical providers are enticing targets because they possess the financial information and detailed records of patients that can be used to file fraudulent insurance claims or impersonate the information's owner to receive healthcare services.
In an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek, BitSight chief technology officer Stephen Boyer noted that healthcare providers are ranking so low in cybersecurity because they are failing to take even the most basic precautions. This seems to be echoed in the small amount most healthcare organizations are spending on annual security budgets. According to Hanover, most U.S. providers' spending on security software and services will make up less than 2 percent of their total IT budget this year.
Increasing data security with FoIP
A cost-effective way to help ensure patient information is protected is to implement an IP fax solution. When faxes are sent with a FoIP service like FaxCore, messages are transmitted over the Internet and the information within is stored on an organization's dedicated server. Archived documents that are kept in these healthcare fax solutions are protected by security measures that employ encryption techniques developed by the National Security Agency. Only the fax's original sender and specified recipient have access to the decryption key, making FoIP the safest form of business communication. At the same time, records stored on an organization’s FoIP server create a cloud-based, secure database, keeping patient information confidential, while retaining access and search from anywhere with an Internet connection.
Enhance enterprise communication, collaboration and compliance efforts with a proven IP fax solution from FaxCore. Contact FaxCore today to learn more about their 'Partly-Cloudy' fax solutions.
