Are your patients’ electronic records stored securely? Security of patients’ health records is one of the primary concerns for most healthcare providers. Patients entrust their personal and confidential details to healthcare providers with an expectation this information will be guarded with reliable security. Sadly, the lucrative nature of the healthcare industry makes it attractive to hackers who have been able to penetrate hospital IT systems and absconded with confidential patients’ information. You can guard your firm against such attacks by allying with an IT support provider in LA that will help bolster your systems’ security.
Threats Facing Healthcare IT Systems
The healthcare industry is exposed to numerous threats that arise, from systemic hacking, human error, or software and hardware crashes. Managing IT solutions to prevent these threats can be a laborious task. Healthcare organizations are duty-bound to keep the health records of their patients securely. Achieving this aim is not as easy as it sounds. There are numerous challenges that further complicate matters. Some of the challenges include:
- Emergent data sources – New technologies such as electronic medical records and digital imaging technologies generate data that must be stored securely. There are also many mobile apps coming into the industry aimed at boosting the productivity of health practitioners. As data is generated from these different sources, there is a need for you to ask an IT support provider in LA to help you find the safest way to store it all.
- Strict federal requirements – The federal government launched the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) to protect the privacy of all citizens. This legislation requires all medical providers to secure their patients’ private medical information. According to HIPAA, all medical facilities are required to back up data and be able to recover that data in case of disaster. HIPAA regulations have strengthened with the passage of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) act. This new legislation increased the penalties for healthcare companies that fail to comply with HIPAA regulations and introduced a clause that requires healthcare providers to report any incidence of a data breach.
- Increasing cost of IT – The cost of IT continues to rise as new technology enters the market. In addition to these new technologies, another driver for this cost is patients’ push for efficiency in service delivery. There is so much happening in the IT field, it is not easy for a healthcare facility to stay on par with these continuous changes in technology. Newer hardware is coming into offices, more businesses are moving their servers to the cloud, and some are even embracing virtualized IT environments.
At Advanced Networks, we have working experience with designing and managing IT systems for healthcare facilities. As an IT support provider in LA, our goal is to make sure your IT systems are compliant with the law and that your patients’ records are always secured. Contact us now for a free quotation.
