The delicate balance between accessibility and privacy has always been a tightrope, but with healthcare cyberattacks on the rise in recent years, safeguards are more necessary now than ever before. When an opportunity was presented to discuss navigating interoperability and data security in the digital age, HealthMark CEO and AHIOS president Bart Howe provided his insights in the Spring Issue of For the Record Magazine.
A patient’s health care record, and access to it, is extremely valuable. Consider the following statistics:
- Medical records are up to 50 times more valuable than stolen credit cards on the black market.
- The health care industry is a target for cyberattacks at a rate of 100% to 200% more than that of any other industry.
- 95% of all identify theft comes from stolen health care records.
We’re all trusted stewards of patient health care data, and based on these stats, that burden is getting very heavy.
At the same time, the interconnected health care ecosystem we’ve talked about for years is finally starting to make some real progress, thanks to regulatory initiatives from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. Interoperability has always been the future, but that future is now. So how do we keep health care data safe as we are increasingly automating access to it? Unfortunately, there’s no silver bullet here, but read on for some perspective and suggestions that can help you move in the right direction.