Why Healthcare Should Agree to Information Security on Mobile?

In the year 1996, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, was enacted in case to combat the increase in healthcare-regarded security attacks - studies uncovered that  80 percent of executives at healthcare contributors and insurers have been hit by a cyber-attack, while the healthcare industry in general is 200 percent more likely to suffer from an attack than other regions.

This is because protected health information (PHI), which involves social security numbers, dates of birth and medical record data is worth far more on the black market than other forms of personal data. Clearly, these numbers are concerning. Thus, in an effort to decrease the rate of future security violations, HIPAA needs that healthcare providers and agencies implement compliance regulations so that PHI sustains to be confidential and secure.

In many hospitals, executives abiding by HIPAA forbid their staff from utilizing SMS to communicate with each other because they cannot be certain that the PHI their staff sends and receives is encrypted and safe from malicious third-parties. In accordance with this logic, then, the next best solution is to depend solely on outdated, seemingly risk-free technologies like pagers and fax machines.

It is obvious then that there is a requirement for speed in terms of gathering and sharing data among hospital staff. In facilitating communications, like making it easier to seek out second opinions and conduct clinical discussions, not only will hospitals save billions of dollars in wasted inefficiencies, but their doctors will also be capable to spend more time with sufferers, make better their general care giving, solve issues, diagnose quicker, and discharge patients in a timely manner.

This is not to say that HIPAA should be eliminated – it is essential to maintaining the security of healthcare organizations across the US. Rather, healthcare organizations must work within the existing parameters and adapt their communication methods accordingly. For instance, instead of banning mobile devices and only concentrating on regulating their data servers, as most hospitals do, healthcare agencies ought to find ways to protect mobile devices and data-in-transit.