Travis Goode

The healthcare industry is rapidly embracing new technologies. Covid-19 has changed the way many industries operate, and healthcare is one of those industries that has been particularly affected by the outbreak. Many healthcare organizations are already digitally transforming, but Covid has accelerated these processes exponentially. Healthcare providers and medtech companies are being forced to adapt to the new normal and change the way they operate. Here are 3 major ways healthcare has changed in recent years.

1. Popularization of telemedicine services:

Covid has necessitated telehealth appointments, but even in a post-Covid world, virtual visits are likely to remain a core component of modern healthcare.according to McKinseyTelehealth utilization in April 2020 was 78 times higher than in February 2020. Compared to pre-pandemic levels, penetration in 2021 is still close to 40 times.

Research Show that both patients and doctors are advocates for telehealth. Many patients prefer the convenience of being able to talk to their doctors at home, and doctors feel that offering telehealth will allow them to function more efficiently. Phone- and video-based medical appointments have gone mainstream in 2020, and they’re not likely to disappear anytime soon.

2. More wearable medical devices with connected ecosystems:

The number of wearable medical devices in use has skyrocketed over the past 5 years.The wearable medical device market is Expected to reach $23 $100,000 in 2023, a significant increase from $8 million in 2017. Gadgets such as heart rate sensors, oxygen meters, and exercise trackers are all becoming more popular. Many popular consumer products, such as cell phones and smartwatches, come with built-in medical tracking technology.

Healthcare devices are more connected than ever. It’s common for consumers’ smartwatches to share data with their phones, which are then transmitted to healthcare apps. Health tracking apps and digital food logs are seeing increased adoption in the 2020s. Barriers between different aspects of healthcare are being removed and more information is being shared than in the past.

3. Emergence of AI and Machine Learning in Healthcare:

Predictive analytics is one of the hottest trends in healthcare right now. Machine learning and artificial intelligence software can analyze billions of data points to predict and prevent potential health care problems. In addition to reducing manual labor for individuals, this type of software is often better than humans at detecting diseases such as cancer or heart disease before they become a major problem. Predictive analytics enables organizations to start treating patients earlier, resulting in better healthcare outcomes while reducing costs.

more than 80% of healthcare organizations have an AI strategy in place in 2020, a significant increase from a few years ago. Machine learning and artificial intelligence can reduce patient readmissions and make medical decisions more accurate. Integrating machine learning and artificial intelligence into healthcare is almost necessary from an economic standpoint.

These shifts have created new risks for an already fragile industry. While digital transformations enable organizations to operate more efficiently, they also bring additional sources of risk. Some examples:

• Telehealth appointments are vulnerable to Zoom-bombing, where unauthorized individuals may snoop on your personal medical conversations with your doctor.
• Wearables and connected ecosystems collect and share more data than ever before.
• Devices that store and send health information must protect data at rest and in transit. Every connected device is another potential entry point for hackers.
• Artificial intelligence and machine learning require analyzing millions of data points. Predictive analytics is very good at spotting problems before they arise, but has its own set of privacy concerns if the data is not properly de-identified.

While taking these risks to provide better service is a key part of innovation, the healthcare industry is particularly vulnerable to hacks and data breaches.

Healthcare is not safe. While cybersecurity is an increasingly important issue in every industry, healthcare faces a larger cybersecurity problem than most industries.Healthcare breaches at an all-time high 2021The private health information (PHI) of more than 45 million Americans was affected by a breach last year, according to a statistic. Report From critical insight. This is a 35% increase from 2020.health data is Most valuable data type On the dark web, the healthcare industry has the highest average Cost per data breach 11 years in a row!

Given the sensitivity of the data and the speed at which it is attacked, one would think that healthcare organizations would prioritize security, but this is not the case. 42% of healthcare organizations do not have an incident response plan for a breach or ransomware attack. Many organizations do not have risk mitigation strategies for wearable medical devices. Perhaps worst of all, many companies don’t even train their employees.

up to a quarter of healthcare workers No security awareness training provided in their workplace. This means that nearly a quarter of those who handle private medical data are not trained in best cybersecurity practices.Cybersecurity training is Mandatory component HIPAA compliance as it is an administrative control under the HIPAA security rules.training staff is one of the best ways To prevent data breaches, it’s shocking that many healthcare companies don’t offer it. Lack of training is arguably the biggest vulnerability affecting healthcare in 2022.

Companies must slow or reverse digital transformation until safety is a top priority. This is the controversial part of our opinion. Advising any company, especially healthcare organizations, to reverse or slow down digital transformation is like asking them to operate in the Stone Age. Digital transformation will continue and accelerate, but companies that don’t put security first will pay the price.

The idea that all high tech is safer is no longer true. Paper records and face-to-face conversations are less likely to be disclosed to unauthorized parties.We’re not saying companies should shun EHRs in favor of paper records or stop telehealth appointments, just that it’s probably safer to use low-tech methods if The company does not have proper security measures. Creating, storing or transmitting as little digital data as possible ensures that the risk profile is as small as possible.

At a minimum, every healthcare organization should ensure that all of its employees are properly trained on HIPAA privacy and security awareness. Each untrained individual represents an additional source of risk and should provide knowledge to protect themselves and their organization. We see insufficient security awareness training available in the current market, especially for remote and hybrid companies using a lot of SaaS applications in 2022.To solve this problem, we decided to write our own security awareness training And make healthcare safer for everyone, for free.

Every company considering adopting a new technology should ask itself what risks it poses. Being stagnant in an evolving market is a risk in itself, but it is nowhere near as disruptive as violating government regulations or losing customer trust for non-compliance. Security should be the first, second and third priority for any healthcare organization looking to digitally transform.

Travis Good is the CEO of Haekka.You can contact him for advice here.