As a healthcare facility, your company is responsible for a great deal of sensitive information that requires a higher level of protection against cybercrime which a basic antivirus program simply won’t cover. Here are 4 tips to help keep that confidential data confidential.
1: Security Is Everyday
Make security a part of the daily routine. This can be done by holding regular training and education days, focusing on the importance of maintaining a safe system. Making sure that employees are aware of their responsibilities is a big part of this - and that they are aware of the consequences to themselves and to the company. Identity cards and frequently changing passwords can be constant reminders of the need for safety.
2: Secure Devices, Secure Network
All devices need to be thoroughly secure. With more and more records, updates and notes being made directly onto handheld devices as a part of more efficient care, your security needs to adapt to include a wider network. Any network - public or private - is susceptible to breaches, and this can mean a serious impact on your business. Simple steps such as password protection on all devices, user authentication with either smartcards or biometric measures, physical locks on device storage areas as well as key coded doors can help.
3: Antivirus Protection
Investing in a very good antivirus for your network is a must, as is an encryption program for all PHI (Protected Health Information) entered into a device or sent using a public network - and ensuring all your devices support encryption would be helpful!
Not all devices used in healthcare are handheld. A lot of machinery used for life support or in administering medication can also be connected to a network. Separate and extensive safeguards need to be in place to protect these devices. A medical group admitted to over 68,000 of these being exposed to hackers in September alone. Multiple layers of protection are needed to guarantee the safety of your clients.
4: Control Data Access
Access to sensitive information needs to be controlled. Set up your EHR (electronic health records) system to only grant access to those members of staff who need to know. This can be done in two ways - either as a part of the operating system of the device, or as an aspect of an app such as a medication prescription program. To ensure heightened security, having both of these in place would be the ideal.
Another way to control who sees any data is to put a role-based access program in place that only allows the amount of access needed to fulfill the needs of the role being carried out. Having clearly defined staff roles is always a good idea- if only for clarity and accountability - and putting in boundaries based on this can reinforce that and provide an extra layer of protection. Manually setting access like this can only be done by someone with authorized rights to the system - meaning it can’t be altered accidentally or attempts made without raising an alert.
