Healthcare Cyber Security Services: ROI for Medical Practices

Summary: Data breaches in healthcare are far more costly than basic proactive services by healthcare cybersecurity companies. Gain insight into why data breaches in healthcare can negatively affect patient outcomes and put practice profitability at risk.

Hackers have learned that stealing personal healthcare data is one of their most lucrative cyberattacks. Cybercriminals who attempt to extract payment from practices and patients can hold patient health records for ransom. Records contain potentially embarrassing private information, and hackers may threaten to make it public.

Beyond medical data, breaches in healthcare can also expose patient and employee addresses, emergency contacts and financial data. At their worst, cyberattacks can shut down medical devices, HVAC systems and other networked services that can threaten patient care and outcomes. Also, other unique, personally identifiable information (PII), such as Social Security numbers and birthdates, are permanent identifying data that may be used for identity theft. These factors make cyberattacks on medical practices very appealing to cyber thieves who sell valuable stolen healthcare data on the dark web, often selling it multiple times.

If your practice collects PII and other private data, it is liable for its protection. You may face fines and lawsuits for every record breached that contains protected information. The cost of up-front essential cybersecurity services is a tiny fraction of the cost of an average ransomware attack.

Data Breaches in Healthcare: Compliance Costs

Small medical practices cannot ignore their legally mandated HIPAA obligations. Privacy compliance is required, and failure to comply can lead to severe fines, increased scrutiny by regulators and revoking the practice’s license to operate a medical facility. Ironically, many breaches are enabled by medical practice employees when they open or share the files of family and people they may know, which unwittingly creates a vulnerability for a breach. In cases of an insider threat (intentional or accidental), medical practices are more likely to face significant fines than attacks from outside bad actors.

Healthcare Cybersecurity Companies Provide Professional Services

Healthcare cyber security cannot be adequately handled in-house for most small medical practices. Cyber security for medical practices is a top priority. Enlist the help of a healthcare cybersecurity company armed with experience and state-of-the-art healthcare data security solutions to help ensure your practice is compliant and secure. Often, small practices do not see the big picture: Cybersecurity is an investment in the future of your medical practice business. Cyberattacks are expensive and time-consuming events. The ongoing costs of one can put you out of business.

Anatomy of a Ransomware Attack: Case Study

A multi-office medical practice in New York City became complacent about protecting its data. They had been in business for over a decade without a cyberattack, and the partners did not budget for additional IT cyber security spending. When the office manager at one of their centers opened the office and logged on, she found that their network was under a ransomware attack. All the practice’s network data had been encrypted, and a warning appeared on their monitors: “You have 24 hours to pay the ransom for your data to be decrypted. The ransom will double each day until paid.” The cost of the breach recovery was far more than a one-time ransom payment. The practice was shut down for days. Chaos ensued. Employees were idle. Clinicians could not access records. Several of the patients and employees later experienced some form of identity theft. Lawsuits were filed, and the practice paid settlements and fines. Had the owners invested in robust healthcare cyber security services and secure tested data backups, they could have saved hundreds of thousands of dollars. Also, paying a ransom to criminals is no guarantee of getting data back in a usable form. Costs related to a cyberattack can include the following:

• Direct financial loss
• IT recovery services
• Breach notification fees
• Legal services
• Lost revenue during the attack
• The cost to recreate patient and financial data
• Harm to reputation
• Harm to employee morale
• Harm to connected networks

Healthcare Data Security Solutions

Managing healthcare cyber threats is a complex process. Solutions offered by cyber security experts include:

• Risk Assessments – Professional healthcare cybersecurity companies perform risk assessments on your network-connected devices and systems to determine any vulnerabilities to be corrected. They also inventory and assess the security of each device connected to your network. Vulnerabilities are identified and corrected. It is important to notify your cybersecurity company when changes are made to devices or systems in your network.
• Creation of Incident Response Plans – A medical practice can’t wait for a cyberattack to create a response plan. IT security experts help develop a comprehensive cyberattack response plan that outlines the steps to be taken in the event of an attack and assign roles and tasks to staff for the response and recovery.
• Healthcare Data Security Compliance – With professional healthcare cyber security services, you can help ensure your cyber security is HIPAA compliant and offer proof of network security when required.
• Endpoint Protection – Every device connected to your computer network increases the attack surface and is a potentially vulnerable endpoint through which hackers can access your valuable practice data. It is imperative that every connected device is secured. Data breaches in healthcare must be prevented, and cybersecurity experts can ensure you’ve closed any “loose ends” at any endpoint and reduced network security risk.
• Continuous Data Protection and Threat Alerts – Powerful antivirus and monitoring software continuously scans for possible threats. In the event of a detected threat, the monitoring station will send alerts to your IT service or healthcare cyber security provider.
• Data and Cloud Security – As more data is stored in or backed up to the cloud, cyber security experts can help ensure it is safe wherever it resides. Data protection must include data being sent and received, data on computers and tablets and data archived n the cloud.
• Employee Security Awareness Training – Unfortunately, humans are the weakest link in healthcare data security. Everyone who uses your practice’s computer network must be trained in best practices and security protocols from day one (including clinicians). Also, as IT evolves and cybercriminals find new ways to breach your data, ongoing training is required to keep all your staff on the same page.
• Network Security – Correctly configured settings on servers, firewalls, routers and devices help prevent attacks. Also, IT security professionals can monitor network traffic and determine unusual activity that could indicate a cyberattack or insider threat.
• IoMT (Internet of Medical Things) – Smart devices connected to your network are also vulnerable endpoints that need to be protected, like computers, printers and phones. Everything from smart HVAC systems to robotic vacuum cleaners are potential network access points and security risks.

The ROI of Healthcare Cybersecurity: Key Takeaways

The average cost of a ransomware demand in 2023 was $600,000 and has risen 20% year-over-year since 2019. In comparison, basic cybersecurity starts at around $1000 per year. Avoiding the long-term disruption and fallout from a cyberattack makes good business sense. Data breaches in healthcare can be devastating for the practice and the patients. The cost of patient healthcare data security offers significant ROI compared to the cost of suffering through and recovering from a cyberattack. Ultimately, it is well worth the expense of healthcare cyber security services to help protect medical practice data.