The eHealth Initiative (eHI) http://ehidc.org Executive Advisory Board on Privacy and Security has been holding ongoing roundtable meetings to explore the role and effectiveness of cybersecurity in the healthcare sector.
Key trends show that the healthcare sector had a 60 percent increase in the number of security incidents as compared to 2013, the average financial cost of a breach incident is 282 percent higher than in 2013, and healthcare information security spending as a percentage of IT budgets in the industry is modest at 3.7 percent is modest at 3.7 percent in 2014.
The discussions took place with eHI, HHS agencies that included the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) www.hhs.gov/ocr, ONC www.healthit.gov, FDA www.fda.gov, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology www.nist.gov under the Department of Commerce.
Discussions centered on preventing cybersecurity attacks, what to do in the event of a data breach, how to improve cybersecurity protections for small providers and vendors, and how to deal with vendors that are unaware of how to enforce data security procedures.
“Cybersecurity is a growing issue of concern and we are fortunate that we have been able to gather so many leading experts in the field to discuss what safeguards can and must do to ensure the privacy and security of consumer health data in this changing landscape of healthcare and technology,” said Jennifer Covich Bordenick, CEO of eHealth Initiative.
A report titled “Executive Advisory Board on Privacy and Security: Healthcare and Cybersecurity was published describing the results of the roundtable meetings. Go to www.ehidc.org/resource-center/reports/2015-03-05 EAB_Privacy_Security_Nov_2014.pdf to view the report.