Telehealth and Cybersecurity: What You Should Know

Author: Kelley Donald - MarCom/Wednesday, February 23, 2022/Categories: Business Internet

Why is Cybersecurity so Important for Telehealth Providers?

When you’re facilitating healthcare virtually, you are potentially exposing extremely confidential patient information to malicious actors if you aren’t running a tight ship, and that can be very problematic. This concern was first raised seriously in an article published in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, where the authors discussed how telehealth practitioners need to completely revamp the way they think about information security in order to contend with the sophistication of risk that is out there. 

Remember, you have an ethical obligation as the healthcare provider to ensure that all your interactions are completely confidential and that any personal data is well protected at all times. The legal and regulatory implications require a lot of precision and savvy to navigate them.

Strong cybersecurity is paramount, and it is something that you cannot take for granted as you seek to improve telehealth platform safety for the sake of your organization and for the patients that you serve. This is backed up by research from SecurityScorecard and DarkOwl, who found that telehealth practitioners have seen security incidents increase by 117% during the pandemic. This is not something to take lightly.

Let’s look at some of the key principles that you should keep in mind when implementing robust cybersecurity practices for telehealth.

 

How to Minimize Telehealth Security Risks

  • Verify the security of third parties. Your cybersecurity system is only as strong as its weakest link. So, if you are partnering with any external providers when it comes to your telehealth, it’s crucial that you verify their security systems as well to cover all your bases. Ultimately it is your responsibility, so don’t take them at their word. Spend your time verifying their security processes and ensure that you’re happy with the quality of security that they have in place.

 

  • Encrypt telehealth data at every point. You can never be too cautious when it comes to protecting sensitive medical information, and so it pays to encrypt this data at every point possible so that nothing slips through the cracks. This might seem more tedious at the beginning, but the precision and attention to detail go a long way to prevent security risks in telehealth. The stronger the encryption, the better here - you can never really be too careful.

 

  • Tighten authentication protocols. Whenever a new device, user, or external party wants to connect to your closed telehealth system, they will need to authenticate themselves in some way. If you make sure that these protocols are extremely tight and the logic that underlies them is solid and robust, you can greatly minimize the risk that a malicious actor can get into the system in the first place. Each point of authentication is a high-risk area, so treat it as such and ensure that you lock down access to only those who definitely need it.

 

  • Seek accreditation. As cybersecurity has grown as a field, we’ve seen an entirely new industry emerge which intends to help companies understand how their cybersecurity systems stack up against the cutting-edge threats that are out there. These external parties will come into your organization and audit your existing setup, so you know where you stand. When you seek these accreditations, you’ll put your systems to the test, and it will help you to take stock of weak cyber defenses so you can make the necessary changes. It’s a great way to force action within your company.

 

  • Teach all employees cybersecurity best practices. It’s a common trope within the cybersecurity community that the biggest weaknesses in most systems are actually the human users who can be unknowingly manipulated into opening doors for malicious actors. To fight against this, it’s important that you’re constantly educating your staff on cybersecurity topics so that you can empower them to spot suspicious activity quicker. This field is constantly evolving, so this can’t be a once-off thing. Reviewing recent updates on communication and risk is paramount. It must become a regular pillar of your continuous development for your team members.

 

These are just a few of the things that you can do as an organization to ensure that your cybersecurity is at the right level to prevent security risks in telehealth. By taking these steps proactively, you can rest assured knowing that your telehealth platform is secure and you can do what you do best.

 

If you’re looking for a professional partner to help you with implementing these solutions, then look no further than us here at Consolidated Communications. We’re experts in delivering the most advanced communications solutions to move your organization forward. Our proven fiber network reliability is the foundation for the very best in highly flexible, cost-efficient, and scalable managed solutions. We pride ourselves on being at the forefront of what’s happening when it comes to cybersecurity, and you can leverage our experience and expertise with the healthcare industry to do what’s best for your customers and employees.  

 

If this is of interest, be sure to get in touch today, and let’s see how we can help!

 

 

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