We live in a time when we have witnessed radical changes in our lives brought about by technological innovations. In the last three decades, we’ve experienced the impact of the Internet and the World Wide Web, mobile devices, social media, e-commerce and electronic payment systems, cloud computing, big data, the Internet of things (IoT), and more recently Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML).
New technologies are continually changing the market landscape, empowering the economy, and pushing the boundaries of every industry. The healthcare industry, arguably the most critical one that is closely connected to all of us, is also under tremendous pressure to keep up with the dynamic technological landscape.
While the healthcare industry faces a variety of larger challenges, such as workforce management, healthcare access, etc., the technology-related challenges are the low-hanging fruits that can empower the industry to resolve many of its other challenges.
The first step towards this digital transformation is to acknowledge the challenges facing the healthcare industry. In this blog post, we discuss these key challenges and how Managed IT Services can help healthcare businesses effectively resolve the challenges emerging from the dynamic technological landscape.
1. Cybersecurity Risks
Given all the sensitive personal and financial information they handle, no one is more under siege than the healthcare industry. Cyberattacks on healthcare-related businesses are becoming not only more sophisticated but also more frequent. In the first quarter of 2024 alone over 17 million individuals were affected by the data breaches that are under investigation by the Office for Civil Rights.
The healthcare industry hasn’t lagged behind in the adoption of new technologies. On the software side, applications such as EHR, e-prescribing, practice management, clinical decision support, etc. are commonly used. On the hardware side, IoT technologies including smart elevators, smart heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems, remote patient monitoring devices, etc. are also widely adopted.
All of these technologies and applications create a complex ecosystem with many vulnerable access points that can be exploited by bad actors. However, an even bigger problem is that the underlying infrastructure supporting all the new technologies is often neglected and lagging far behind the rest of the ecosystem.
While DDoS (distributed denial of service) and ransomware attacks gain the most attention, the most common threats to healthcare systems come from a lack of employee awareness, insider threats, weak network security, and phishing attacks.
Although you can’t prevent bad actors from targeting your healthcare business, you can certainly take steps to build and strengthen your security systems and network resilience as well as raise the cybersecurity awareness of employees.
Like the technology landscape, the threat landscape is also constantly changing, and keeping up with the latest in cybersecurity is an onerous task. Thankfully, healthcare businesses can outsource cybersecurity to managed IT services as they are adept at keeping businesses secure.
You can learn more about this topic in our earlier blog post How To Improve Cybersecurity In The Healthcare Industry, where we’ve discussed cybersecurity in healthcare in greater detail.
2. Regulatory Compliance
As a consequence of the risks of data breaches comes the necessity of regulatory compliance. In the US, healthcare businesses have to comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act or HIPAA.
While regulatory compliance is great from data security and privacy perspectives, it puts a lot of pressure on the healthcare businesses. To become HIPAA compliant organizations have to adhere to HIPAA requirements and be able to demonstrate compliance. Moreover, they need to have a continual process of evaluation to ensure that compliance is maintained.
Thankfully much of HIPAA compliance revolves around Information Technology (IT) as you can see from the following key requirements:
Organizations must maintain thorough documentation of their compliance efforts.
Organizations must develop policies and procedures consistent with HIPAA regulatory standards.
They must conduct annual security audits.
They must put into practice remediation plans for any compliance violations detected during audits.
Organizations must document all security incidents.
So an experienced managed IT service provider will be able to assist you with achieving and maintaining compliance with all necessary regulatory requirements. They can help you draft compliant IT policies, conduct security audits and risk assessments, collect and document evidence of compliance, implement remediation plans, and put into practice an incident response plan.
3. Advances In Health Technology
Another key challenge for healthcare businesses is keeping up with the advances in health technology. The implementation of Electronic Health Records (EHRs), introduced to improve patient care, enhance communication, and streamline healthcare processes, is often more challenging than beneficial.
Cost, usability, interoperability, and technical debt often impede the adoption of EHR and other new technologies. Moreover, legacy systems, unconnected data sources, and siloed information hinder communication, collaboration, and coordination among healthcare providers, impacting efficiency and business goals.
An experienced IT services provider can play a crucial role in assisting healthcare providers to overcome health technology challenges. Here’s how:
By assisting in selecting, implementing, and integrating EHR systems that meet their specific business needs and requirements, including migrating data from legacy systems, documentation, and compliance with regulatory requirements such as HIPAA.
Setting up telehealth infrastructure, including video conferencing equipment, secure messaging systems, and patient portals, to enable remote consultations and virtual care delivery.
Implementing encryption, access controls, and other security measures to protect patient data.
Facilitate secure communication and collaboration among healthcare providers, patients, and caregivers to streamline processes and improve efficiency.
Building and maintaining a solid underlying IT infrastructure capable of handling current and future technology needs.
3. Data Loss Prevention
Even if you operate a very secure IT infrastructure with elevated security, you are never immune to data loss. Cyberattacks are not the only source of data loss. In fact, they are not even close to the biggest source. Errors, misconfigurations, insider threats, and system failures are far more common sources of data loss, including accidental deletion, data corruption, data theft, etc.
Therefore, healthcare businesses, which are heavily reliant on sensitive patient data, have to be extremely vigilant about security. Again, this is a great place to get help from an experienced IT service provider, who can help you implement a robust Data Loss Prevention (DLP) program. In addition, they can also help you harden your internal systems by implementing Zero Trust Security and the Principle of Least Privilege (PoLP) security architecture.
Conclusion
Healthcare businesses face a number of challenges as they seek to deliver quality healthcare while meeting business goals, including growth and profitability. Although staffing shortages, supply chain problems, and rising costs are the most pressing challenges, astute use of technology can not only help healthcare businesses alleviate key challenges but also improve productivity and control costs.
For organizations seeking to stay up-to-date with the latest technological developments, it is advisable to partner with IT experts who can help optimize their use of technology and keep their infrastructure future-ready. Partnering with a reliable IT services provider experienced in the healthcare industry guarantees access to their expertise, enabling healthcare businesses to build a robust infrastructure that can efficiently support cutting-edge technology and cater to the evolving needs of the healthcare industry.
We help Healthcare, Pharma, Medical, Biotech, and Life sciences companies deploy, operate, and maintain secure, scalable IT infrastructure. Reach out to us by clicking the button below to chat about how we can help your healthcare business.
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About The Author
Hari SubediMarketing Manager at Jones IT
Hari is an online marketing professional with a focus on content marketing. He writes on topics related to IT, Security, and Small Business. He is also the founder and managing director of Girivar Kft., a business services company located in Budapest, Hungary.