Is Your Healthcare Information Secure From ESI or eDiscovery Hackers?
After recent computer break-ins in which the data of millions of users’ information was stolen, experts are left wondering about the security of the healthcare information in the future.
There have been hundreds of data breaches over the last several years, and the second largest of them occurred because of a reason as simple as a hacked password. Talk about low-budget eDiscovery skills!
Health breaches are a serious issue can leave many patients wondering about the safety of their most personal and private information.
If you own a healthcare company, and are wondering how to prevent such a breach of data, the following information will be useful to you.
First, you should perform a risk assessment. In an ever changing world when it comes to technology, you should continuously examine your risk when it comes to the information you control, and you must be constantly maintaining and updating your systems as such. Having an up to date system can be one of the best ways to avoid a tragic data breach.
Having properly trained employees is another key to avoiding data breach. Your employees must understand your practices and put them into place effectively. If your system is updated and then information changes, your employees need to be made aware of this right away. There needs to be consequence for being careless with information as well.
Develop policies and procedures, and stick to them. Make it easy for your employees and doctors to keep information safe and secure. The harder it is for your employees to follow your system, the less secure you are as a whole. Of course, you have to keep in mind the most important aspect of healthcare, which is the patient.
Be ready to respond in case there is an incident. Even the best policies and procedures and most up to date systems can’t control everything, and if something does occur, you should be ready to take action to prevent further damage. You want to avoid panicky, knee-jerk reactions that cause more harm than good. Part of training your employees should include instructing on what to do should a breach occur. Managing it is your best plan of attack once the worst has happened.
While data breaches may be inevitable, by following the above rules fairly closely, and always keeping your security plan at the forefront, you can manage anything that comes your way, including a data breach.
