The global pandemic has spurred the healthcare ecosystem into innovating new strategies and technologies to foster remote collaboration. With increasing social distancing measures, telemedicine solutions and digital healthcare platforms are gaining significance among patients and physicians alike. Consider the fact that telemedicine visits have increased by a staggering 154% in March 2021.

Wearables and IoT-powered Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) technologies also improve collaboration in hospitals and at homes. In a global survey of healthcare leaders including CIOs and CTOs, 42% of them revealed that they had expedited IoT technologies, in the wake of COVID-19 to foster cohesiveness among the key stakeholders.

Healthcare leaders around the globe have been quick to adopt digital technologies even before the Public Health Emergency (PHE) as part of their digital transformation journey. A slew of innovations including wearables and IoT devices, remote patient monitoring and tracking devices have been integrated into healthcare to enhance Patient Experiences (PX) and accelerate outcomes for years. However, the fact remains that these innovations have increased the complexities of the healthcare workflows and infrastructure at large.

This is especially true with large organizations that expand their networks in more locations— posing serious threats to their data privacy and security. Also, the sudden explosion of digital health devices facilitating virtual health and Remote Patient Monitoring at homes has been amongst the new targets for hackers worldwide. Research indicates that 560 healthcare organizations including Hospitals and large Practices have experienced ransomware attacks in 2020.

Smaller Practices and Hospitals are more prone to these threats, where they may have limited data security practices. Their primary focus is on patient care and improving health outcomes, while security threats and data privacy are not on top of their priorities. However, with growing complexities resulting from virtual healthcare solutions, healthcare organizations must ensure security of systems and devices.

How Private Key Infrastructure Can Help

Complex IT systems and connected healthcare environments pose serious threats to organizations. Insufficient user authentications and insecure mobile connections are a few of the growing concerns that need to be addressed. Hospitals and Practices need strong data integrity and encryption support to comply with the HIPAA policies and other regulations. Private Key Infrastructure can accelerate data security in several ways. It enables:

• Data integrity that assures Physicians that the data they handle can be trusted. Special encryptions and code signing certificates are used to maintain security between connected devices and highly sensitive health data. U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) places immense focus on data integrity and advanced solutions to maximize security.
• User authentication and security policies for remote systems like telemedicine solutions are essential factors. A Private Key Infrastructure facilitates authentication without complex processes and minimal user intervention. It simplifies processes by directly authenticating IoT-enabled devices and wearables in a decentralized manner.
• End-to-end encryption of critical patient data, including biometrics, historical, behavioral and geographical data and safeguards information from hackers

Cybersecurity Threats Slated to Grow in the Coming Years

As virtual care platforms and remote patient monitoring solutions have taken the center-stage, industry leaders predict that healthcare security risks will only increase in the coming years in the wake of global pandemic. This also means that care providers need to start planning ahead for what’s coming. Organizations need to do a thorough audit of the remote applications and virtual healthcare devices currently in use. By establishing strong authentication and connection across systems, devices and platforms, health systems can safeguard critical data and be rest assured of a protected environment.

Also Read:

Healthcare Cybersecurity Trends 2021: Cybersecurity Statistics, Key Drivers and Global Opportunities

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Healthcare Data Exchange: Interoperability Best Practices

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Medical Billing and Coding: Resurgence after the COVID-19 Pandemic

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Definitive guide to Healthcare Cybersecurity during COVID-19

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To learn more about protecting your healthcare organization against evolving data threats, talk to our team.