4 Healthcare Data Security Mistakes And How To Avoid Them

Imagine running a healthcare business and losing your patients’ medical data in a security breach. It’s an unthinkable situation that your business might not survive.

Now that upwards of 90% of our medical records are stored digitally, the healthcare industry has to kick cybersecurity up a notch. So much can go wrong, but if you take the right measures and avoid common healthcare data security mistakes, you can keep your patient data safe at all times.

To avoid these mistakes, you have to know what they are. In this post, we’re going to tell you 4 of the most common mistakes that healthcare companies make in the face of common cyber threats. Keep reading to guarantee to avoid cyber threats and prioritize data security solutions.

1. Failure to Encrypt Data

Data encryption is an important aspect of staving off cyber threats. Basically, encryption scrambles the patient data so that it can’t be comprehended without a special passkey.

Without encryption, cybercriminals have just one barrier to breach in order to gain access to patient data. With it, you can rest assured that even during a major security breach, you’ve taken the proper steps towards protecting patient data, even if your business data is up for grabs.

Combining encryption with firewalls and anti-virus software, you can effectively eliminate most of the common cybersecurity threats that your healthcare business faces.

2. Lack of Education

Did you know that over 95% of cybersecurity breaches are due to human error?

A lack of education for your employees can end up being the biggest mistake that you make. Even with all of the measures put in place, your cybersecurity is only as strong as its weakest link. If that happens to be one or more of your employees, then you’re in trouble.

Take the time to inform yourself and your staff of the correct way to perform health information management. Keep them wary of what a cyber threat looks like and what they need to do to avoid a threat becoming a breach.

3. Not Performing Regular Software Updates

Having the proper software in place to keep your data safe is absolutely crucial. Keeping that software updated is just as important. Cybercriminals are often a step ahead of the latest software updates, so if you’re behind on them, you’re especially vulnerable.

4. Single-Factor Authentication

It’s unheard of not to use multi-factor authentication in most digital realms these days, so why would you use single-factor with your patient data? A single login and password just aren’t good enough anymore – there needs to be a secondary code that your workers input in order to gain access to the data.

Two-factor authentication helps to verify that your employees are who they say they are. If you have a single factor, cybercriminals can gain fast access and cause a major data breach.

Not Making Healthcare Data Security Mistakes

Knowing which healthcare data security mistakes you should be looking out for should help you to avoid making them. If you want your healthcare business to be a success, then you need to keep your patients’ sensitive information safe.

As soon as you’ve got a data breach, you’re going to struggle to earn the trust of your patients. Use these tips to ensure that you’re always making cybersecurity a top priority.

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