Are you at risk? – Raising awareness on Cyber Security

Home Blog Are you at risk? – Raising awareness on Cyber Security

Due to the changing environment in the health care industry, with ICD-10, EMR’s, etc., there are a lot of system, network, and technology changes/upgrades occurring.  While these changes are necessary and helpful to many facets of the business, they are also increasing organization’s cyber vulnerability.  This is the first part, of a two-part series, on Cyber Security in the Rehab Industry.  Today we will discuss what the risk in Cyber Security is, and why is it a risk? What is the risk? According to a study by the Ponemon Institute, an independent security and data protection consultation firm, the rise in cyber-attacks against health-care providers have more than doubled in the past five years, with the average data breach costing a hospital $2.1 million.   The reason for these attacks stems from the value of a medical record on the “black market”.  According to Dell SecureWorks, a unit of Dell Inc., these records sell for 20 times the price of a stolen credit card due to the fact that they contain more sensitive information such as social security numbers, insurance ID’s, addresses, etc. Why is this a risk? If a patient’s medical identity gets stolen, they have more problems to worry about than just a few fraudulent credit card charges.  They will have to worry about fraudulent insurance plans, claims, and a series of other very complicated issues dealing with their coverages, both past and future.  It goes without saying that if patients start having more trouble getting coverage and aid from insurance, they will be less likely to get the treatment and care that they need to recover, which leads down a very dark road for all parties involved. While this is an area of the business that not a lot of people think about too much, it can be a very costly area to ignore or overlook. Stay tuned for part-two of this series that will cover what can be done to help lessen the risk that your clinic is facing.  For any additional questions on this or other topics feel free to email us at [email protected] or go to our website www.naranet.org.

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