How Health Industry Can Benefit From Information Security Risk Management?

Health care industry is booming with new technological solutions leaving it vulnerable to all security threats faced by Information security. Risk management, risk assessment and risk mitigation is equally crucial for the health industry. Keeping health care system up with privacy and compliance programs is equally important.

• Modern health industry is comprised of following important elements:
• Financial sector
• Medical unit
• Billing, employee and customer record unit (technology dependent)
• Inventory system (technology dependent)

The technological dependent units are considered backbone of health care industry. With their addition need of information, security management has increased. Patient data, financial and employee record is in sheer need of securing from hackers and threat generators. The system needs information security paradigm to protect the confidentiality of health care unit to impose a greater level of stakeholder trust.

In health care industry CIA (confidentiality, integrity and authentication) is also implemented to ensure the system is secured.

Electronic medical records:

Electronic medical records are becoming vital part of health care industry resulting increase its vulnerability to threats. Recent attack on Griffin Hospital USA has made experts anxious about patient’s records security. Luckily there was no financial record of social security data was saved. But this one attack made every security expert cautious about information security of the health industry. A study made in 2008 shows that defibrillators, glucose infusion pumps and heart monitoring system can be hacked wirelessly. Mobile phone devices can also be used to control these devices and to manipulate patient data.
To prevent such manipulation of patient’s record there is a sheer need of modern information security measures. There are many software programs designed especially for health care industry. Medical security programs or MSPs are designed to protect patient’s data as well as to get back the hacked device. There is always a need of installing a theft control and protection program to save valuable data. 

List of MSPs:

Here is a list of tools and software programs offer best management and information security protection for health care industry:

1. End-point security system:
To ensure patient’s data security from malware, spyware and viruses, there is a need of comprehensive end-point security system. Semantic is an example of end-point security suite which comes with malware, spyware and virus identification and protection tools. This suit is designed specifically for health care industry that is why considered a comprehensive solution.

2. Encryption software:
Encryption software is used to layer the system after end point security system in order to protect patient data by encrypting it. VOR-metric Transparent Encryption is an example of encryption software.

3. Information security and backup solution:
Information security and backup solution are crucial for health care system because it is essential to get back the information lost during a set-back. Barracuda Backup is widely used to take back-up of patient’s data.

4. Mobility management tools:
It is an important part of MSP because mobile devices have penetrated in health care system too and to manage them it is very essential to install a mobility management tool. VM-Ware’s Air-Watch Enterprise Mobility Management is a comprehensive mobility management suit used in healthcare information security.