Healthcare
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Table of Contents
Data security is no joke: healthcare providers lose millions of dollars due to breaches. Phishing, ransomware, fees for non-compliance, and recovery costs hit providers' budgets as hard as reputation damage.
Fortunately, there are reliable ways to face these challenges. These are not just tiny steps but the whole security strategy and culture integrated at all levels of healthcare organizations.
Healthcare data keeps growing in value and price. Learn how to keep it safe!
The healthcare industry gathers a lot of patients' personal data, from health conditions, diagnoses, and lab results to names, addresses, insurance numbers, and payment information. What a titbit for hackers! Here, healthcare data security takes a stand.
What is data security in healthcare? It is a strategic approach and set of measures that ensure data confidentiality, availability, and integrity. Its goal is to safeguard information from unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, and destruction.
Cyberattacks on healthcare systems grow in numbers and scale, as the domain contains many data of high monetary and intelligence value. The challenging environment of modern healthcare software does not make things easier. Electronic medical records and other medical systems often contain opportunities for unauthorized access and data theft.
Security threats influence financial resources and reputations of healthcare organizations. They undermine patient trust and confidentiality, decrease quality of care, and hamper research and innovation. They also result in revenue loss and deterioration of business relationships.
Data breaches can damage patients' lives in many ways, from embarrassment to discrimination and stigma. Research shows that patients who have encountered a healthcare data breach are more inclined to avoid going to hospitals in the following months (if their health condition allows them to refrain from such visits). That is why the protection of an individual's dignity and well-being is a major priority for data security in healthcare.
Moving on, let's explore the ways to protect medical data and the security challenges healthcare organizations face.
Healthcare data is information recorded in any form related to the individual's physical or mental health condition, data about care provision, and payment information. Under HIPAA regulations, it is called personal health information (PHI). Healthcare organizations and covered entities must comply and provide data confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
Many threats to data security emerge from the data specifics and uniqueness — it is often complex, unstructured, and heterogeneous.
Healthcare organizations face diverse internal difficulties when it comes to security. Some problems root in the very nature of healthcare, and others emerge from poor management and staff negligence.
Dozens of interconnected systems, devices, applications, and integrations with outdated systems pose threats to data security. The diversity of systems and technologies as well as complex software interoperability make it hard to apply consistent security measures across the entire network.
Innovation is a two-edged sword: as technology evolves, so do cyber threats. For example, the evolution of mobile networks and the wider adoption of IoT medical devices pose new opportunities for device hacking and signal interception during data transmission. The emergence of cloud technologies has spawned the need for new approaches to cloud threat detection, investigation, and response.
When assessing healthcare data security, identifying outside threats is not enough. Internal factors, such as intentional or unintentional malicious human activity, may catch you off guard.
The research shows that breaches resulting from unintentional insider threats affect over twice as many records as those caused by malicious actions, including external cyberattacks and theft.
Carelessness, negligence, harmful activities, and falling victim to phishing emails are major internal data security threats. In defense of medical staff, many human errors occur due to high workload, poor security culture, and work emergencies.
The transmission stage is where healthcare data is at risk of interception by a third party. It may be stolen, changed, or monitored without the sender's knowledge, leading to private communications, intellectual property theft, file corruption, and personal data exposure.
The way out? Data encryption (including HTTPS, SSL/TLS, and IPsec protocols), user authentication (multi-step verification), data integrity checks (blockchain, digital signatures), and access control (zero trust model, job-based access) are the pillars of secure data transmission.
Medical staff can be extremely busy, lacking time to properly learn security practices. Some professionals are not so tech-savvy and may be more likely to fall for phishing emails, create weak passwords, and accidentally expose patient-sensitive data.
Data security issues in healthcare are not limited to the software layer. Physical damage, such as natural disasters, unauthorized access to restricted areas, and device theft, can disrupt patients' care and lead to data loss.
Luckily, there are many measures to protect data and devices from physical risks. RFID tags, security cameras, access control, and motion sensors can effectively safeguard your organization from physical threats. The introduction of backup systems and contingency strategies shortens recovery time when force majeure occurs.
Outdated healthcare systems still have a fair share in the industry (73%, according to the survey) and contribute significantly to healthcare data security challenges. From lack of security features and updates to limited integrations and poor performance — they hamper business development and put patient data at risk.
Important training like fire safety or data security is often treated formally. The survey highlights that 24% of respondents were not provided with security awareness training by their employers. This leads to weaker security and the rise of human factors in data breaches and compromised systems.
To stay compliant, healthcare organizations must understand and apply the requirements, monitor changes, and stay updated. The same is true for healthcare software development companies. They must organize healthcare systems according to the domain’s regulations and best development security practices.
Whether it is medical device software development or EMR/EHR creation, a reliable healthcare development team knows the domain’s regulatory and compliance requirements in certain countries/regions. Let’s overview the major ones.
Non-compliance results in penalties, fines, recovery costs, reputation and revenue loss. Violating HIPAA regulations can result in civil fines that vary from $141 to $2,134,831 for each infraction, influenced by the level of fault.
Overall, regulations in healthcare provide guidelines for safeguarding patient data, unifying core security principles, as well as collecting and managing personal information.
Every organization strives for security and compliance, but many fail. The aftermath of a data breach is often disastrous. We've compiled the major security incidents and their consequences for healthcare providers and patients.
In December 2022, a cyberattack on a California-based medical organization affected more than 3 million individuals. The stolen data included clients' full names, social security numbers, addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, diagnosis and treatment information, lab results, medical imaging, etc.
Regal Medical Group's response included notifying affected individuals and improving security monitoring and protocols. Still, the organization faced several lawsuits that highlighted the inefficient measures taken to protect personal health information (PHI), which led to such a massive data breach.
The organization does not disclose the exact measures taken to avoid such breaches in the future and, hopefully, has learnt how to secure patient data.
In 2023, the mental health startup shared private information of more than 3.1 million individuals. The data was used by social media platforms like Facebook, Google, and TikTok, as well as by advertisers.
Cerebral shared names, phone numbers, emails, dates of birth, IP addresses, other demographics, mental health assessments, subscription plans, and services users selected via the telehealth platform.
The users were poorly informed about the data automatically collected by the app: just clicking "I accept the app's terms of use and privacy policies" enabled the data tracking code. The essence of data collection practices was unclear and hard to find.
Since the incident, the startup has deleted all custom data tracking codes without mentioning whether or not the data has been collected or deleted from their partners' side.
The company violated HIPAA and was fined by the Federal Trade Commission $7.1 million.
This is the most severe case that highlights the importance of data security in healthcare.
Up to 190 million individuals were compromised after a major data breach and ransomware attack on a US-based healthcare service provider in 2024. The compromised information included names, contact details, birth dates, social security numbers, and health records, marking it the most significant healthcare data breach documented.
Right after the attack, the company took key operations offline, causing major disruptions in the revenue cycle. Many lawsuits were filed, and Change Healthcare fees are estimated to exceed $2.4 billion.
Adherence to best security practices means not only the application of separate strategies but also the creation of a powerful network that includes security strategy, culture, and response plans. Here are some gold standards for keeping medical data safe.
Role-based access control, guided by the principle of least privilege, helps limit access to systems and files according to job functions. This principle means that professionals will only gain access enough to fulfill their tasks.
Early on, continuous logging helps detect data security threats, such as unusual and suspicious activities. 24/7 monitoring of all critical systems is vital for cyber attack detection and response. Regular security audits should also be conducted, when systems are examined for vulnerabilities.
Data encryption is the major concept in data security. From common HTTPS and SSL/TLS protocols to peer-to-peer encryption and blockchain, robust data encryption strategies allow you to securely store and transmit patients' data.
MFA requires users to verify their identity using two or more credentials before accessing systems or data. These may include a password/PIN, smartphone/security token, or fingerprint/facial recognition. By adding an extra layer of defense around sensitive patient data, you can better protect PHI and reduce credential theft risk.
System updates and timely security patches for devices and healthcare systems keep up with recent technologies and types of cyberattacks, helping the whole organization to stay resilient to security threats.
Statistics show that many data security issues in healthcare arise from human negligence. Computers left without system logoff, weak passwords, and even documents left in the printer unattended can present risks to patient data.
Employee awareness of security protocols achieved through staff training minimizes such risks. Educate staff on phishing, password hygiene, and data handling. Don't forget to do it regularly and never consider it a formality.
It's always better to prepare a comprehensive response plan when there are no clouds in the sky than to be off the cuff. So, when a cyberattack occurs, your staff will know what to do, minimizing downtime and damage.
To create a response plan, define roles, responsibilities, and emergency communication lines. Then, ensure the necessary tools, systems, and documentation are in place. Next, standardize what qualifies as an incident and how it's prioritized. Train staff, including incident simulations, and keep an updated list of internal teams, vendors, legal counsel, and regulatory bodies for fast communication.
Compliance is the first thing you should consider when deciding how to secure patient data. As regulations change, your organization must effectively implement those new requirements. This ensures the privacy, integrity, and security of patient data.
The use of modern technologies protects you from threats caused by outdated systems. Unsupported tech may violate HIPAA, GDPR, or other data protection regulations. Legacy systems are hard to integrate with modern security tools, and their weaknesses are often well-known. Unsupported systems do not receive security patches and usually have poor performance, which results in exposing patient data to breaches and interruption of clinical workflows.
Internal systems are not the only ones that might carry security risks. Third-party vendors are also responsible for information you share. Thus, vendor risk mitigation becomes a necessary part of healthcare data security.
When choosing vendors, select those with proper certifications and clear security policies. Audit vendor security practices, rank them by risk level and include them in your incident response plan and breach notification timeline.
More than half of medical devices are at some degree of security risk. But how can the patient data stored or transmitted from medical devices be secured?
Medical devices share the same security practices as other systems, such as data encryption, strong authentication, and regular updates. In particular, this includes implementing mobile device management solutions and enabling remote wipes for lost or stolen devices.
Commitment to security standards and best practices decreases the chances of data breaches, and they cannot be overlooked. An ounce of simple prevention like staff training is worth a pound of cure.
Even if you apply best practices and use top security technologies, no system is 100% immune to cyber threats. The report shows that 92% of healthcare organizations had at least one attack in 2024. It is quite possible that your organization may face some type of cyber threats during the year.
So, what should you do when a data breach happens? Here is a step-by-step instruction.
Switch off the impacted systems, as well as the software and hardware connected to them. Consider that they can be on- and off-premises, managed, and owned by third parties or affiliated organizations.
Define when the breach occurred, what systems and locations were affected, and what services suffered. Find out what patients' health information might have been compromised, and evaluate the approximate recovery time.
Under HIPAA, individual, media, and business associate notifications must be issued no later than 60 calendar days from the date of the data breach (this number varies depending on the number of individuals affected). Consider making a public statement on the issue to minimize reputational damage.
Launch an investigation to define the scope of the breach, the systems that were impacted, and your system's weak points. After a thorough analysis of threats to data security, evaluate the time it will take to get systems running again.
At step one, you've isolated the impacted system. Now, it's time to fix it. Enact your recovery plan, patch vulnerabilities, and restore from secure backups. Shut down any exposed logins and scan all connected systems for malware. Reintroduce critical services according to their priority.
When everything is on again, you need a deeper understanding of the incident and how it became possible. Review your current security measures and update them accordingly. Strengthen security policy, update systems, and continue monitoring to prevent similar occasions.
We all learn from our mistakes, and cyber attacks are no exception. To get the most out of the situation, create a comprehensive report for the team and stakeholders about the cyber attack. Describe where the breach took place and what systems and data were affected. Proceed to containment and recovery measures and describe adjustments to healthcare data security policy and mitigation plan.
As domain digitalization will continue in the following years, new trends emerge in the field of data security. In response to healthcare data security challenges, the following tendencies appear:
New trends are expected to enhance data security solutions, helping to shape a more secure and resilient healthcare environment.
Data security in healthcare becomes increasingly important from year to year. It has become a shared responsibility of healthcare providers, organizations, and individuals. As the number and severity of cyberattacks continue to grow, it is vital to have a reliable system built with recent technologies and best security practices. After all, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
If you're looking for healthcare software development expertise, contact NEKLO to discuss your project with our professionals. Keep your patients' data safe!
US-based and operating globally, NEKLO spearheads digital transformation initiatives for businesses worldwide. We deliver software solutions complying with your market and legislation.
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