Independent practices like yours in the healthcare industry are under threat. Why? Hackers are looking for valuable information about people, and healthcare practices have that data. That’s why hackers and other bad actors are looking for it. Aside from this, the bad guys are well aware that physicians typically lack the necessary IT resources to safeguard their own practices and therefore presume them to be easy targets. In the post, therefore, we will be discussing 6 ways to improve the data security of your practice.

If a healthcare breach happens, and you are found in violation, you understand your responsibilities as an independent practitioner. The Ponemon Institute found that the average cost per record in a healthcare data breach was $408.00. That’s $816,000 for a practice with 2,000 patients! It takes an average of 197 days to discover that you’ve had a data breach, and an additional 69 days on average to limit the breach. This makes concentrating on patient care a nightmare for many practices.

This year’s Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report has provided valuable information for independent practices. As a result, healthcare is the only sector in which risks originating from insiders (52 percent) outnumber those originating from outsiders (42 percent). Patients are fourteen times more likely to have their medical information hacked by physicians and nurses. Eighty-one percent of all healthcare cybersecurity events were the result of various mistakes, such as software misconfiguration and privilege abuse. Having this information implies that your independent practice may take actions and reduce the possibility of severe penalties.

Following is a list of important advice by Clinicast on how to keep your data safe.

1. Educate Your Team On Common Scams

Employees should be educated about avoiding malware and phishing. Even if the sender is someone you know, you should be wary about attachments and site links, even if they come from them. Calls for immediate action or grammatical errors suggest that a communication is not authentic. Fake phishing emails requesting patient information may be used to test practices’ systems on their own employees.

2. Obtain Cyber-Liability Insurance.

In the event that a healthcare organization’s sensitive patient data is hacked, cyber-liability insurance provides peace of mind. It may be used to pay for legal fees and is often included in a healthcare practice’s overall insurance plan. Before receiving access to the EHR, make sure all partners and suppliers can provide proof of insurance.

3. Perform a Risk Assessment

HIPAA mandates that practices do a risk assessment to identify flaws in policies, methods, and technology, including EHR systems, as well as the need for additional safeguards. Many independent practices have difficulty getting started because they don’t know where to begin. Look for practices that are comparable to yours in size and speciality. Observe the kind of the breaches they’ve had since it’s likely to be a danger to your practice.

When it comes to email, for example, you’ll notice many cases of this. For many small businesses, email is a major source of inefficiency. A large percentage of malware is sent by email, therefore your employees need to be educated on what to avoid opening. In fact, one of the most pressing concerns isn’t even related to the business itself, but rather to patients who may contact personnel with confidential information. Patients should be warned not to provide such information by email, and the email should be deleted as soon as it is received. No sensitive data should ever be saved or stored on a machine that is not encrypted or secured. Texting is even more harmful than email. Using text to discuss sensitive information is a bad idea. A secure patient portal should be set up, and direct patient contacts should be restricted to the site.

4. Build Security into Business Partner Agreements

Practicing practices must not only strengthen their own security procedures, but also those of their suppliers, partners, and associated practices. As part of business agreements with their partners such as image processing, billing, and revenue cycle management businesses and EHR system providers, practices should include expectations and obligations for the security of their processes and systems.

5. Use Encryption on All Devices

To prevent unwanted access, all sensitive data should be secured across all platforms, including PCs, laptops, tablets, and mobile phones. As devices have become smaller, more portable, and simpler to lose or steal, this becomes more critical. The good news is that today’s smartphones come pre-installed with built-in encryption. BitLocker, for example, is a Windows feature, whereas FileVault is a Mac one. You’ll need to manually turn the feature on in order to use it.

6. Choose a Partner for Enhanced Data Security Protections

If you want to guarantee that patient information is safe and safeguarded from possible breaches, choose a clinical or practice management platform that has HITRUST, AICPA, and NIST certifications to show its dedication to data security. Third-party audits should also be conducted by the partners to ensure that the requirements and guidelines are being followed. You can contact Clinicast to find more extensive information on how to safeguard the security of your medical practice information.

The Bottom Line

This is how attackers make a living and this is their business model. Apart from your current and prior addresses and credit card numbers, the hackers are also interested in your first and last name and any other Protected Health Information (PHI) that can make you a target for them. These criminals target healthcare organizations because they believe you are an easy mark. However, by following a few simple guidelines and taking proactive measures as suggested above by Clinicast, you may minimize your exposure and safeguard the sensitive patient data.