By Kris
The U.S. government is encouraging healthcare organisations to utilise electronic healthcare records. However this will mean much more is required to be spent on Cyber Security.
As “no organisation can afford to ignore the potential consequences of a data breach,” according to the American National Standards Institute.
To view the original article please click here.
Of the 100 healthcare executives surveyed 60 of them cited ‘lack of funding’ as the primary reason for not securing digital records.
However Obama is attempting to mitigate this and spur the adoption of digital health records through increasing incentive payments to doctors and hospitals. The economic stimulus legislation, established in 2009 may reach $27.4 billion.
The problem with the increasing adoption of electronic health records however is that it is leading to an increased frequency of data breaches. In 2011 breaches of healthcare data increased by 32%, costing the industry a collective $6.5 billion.
“To successfully mitigate data breach threats and risks, leaders of organisations in the healthcare sector must understand the evolving healthcare ecosystem,” American National Standards Institute.
A Bloomberg study which spoke to healthcare providers, pharmaceutical and medical device companies estimated that spending on cyber security would rise from $23 to $155 million in order to stop 95% of hacking attacks.
The report released by The American National Standards Institute offered a five-step model to help top executives invest in protecting health records. “What we want to demonstrate is the work that the private sector can do on a key national priority,” James McCabe – senior director at the institute.
The emphasis which is being placed on encouraging private service adoption is similar to what is now taking place in the UK with the G-Cloud rollout and certainly helps level the playing field for SME service providers.