As if you needed another thing to worry about...
We've said it before, and we'll say it again: data breaches are not only a constant threat to healthcare providers, but also easy to overlook while everyone is focused on providing the best possible care for patients.
And the threat has escalated during the coronavirus crisis. Bad actors know you're distracted. And, if we're perfectly honest, being stressed and overworked has led us all to let some things slide.
Which leads us to our first story this week:
- The Mayo Clinic leaked patient data recently by not controlling where and how patient data was accessible.
- They're also transferring a large number of employees to work from home. Those two pieces of news combined make us seriously wonder about what security practices they're enforcing with their remote staff.
- And breaches are not without consequences. CHS is settling a lawsuit over leaked patient data and a vendor for healthcare providers, Blackbaud, is doing the same. That's on top of any ransom they already paid to have ransomware removed.
- So why aren't more providers more secure? Why aren't they asking their vendors about security practices that might expose them and their patients? Evidence suggests the problem isn't that they aren't technologically capable -- it's that change is scary.
- So congratulations are well earned by our friends at Duke and Yale New Haven for being named among healthcare's Most Wired by CHIME. Though, the presence of the Mayo Clinic on the list - plus our own bias toward mobility - does make us wonder if a better award might be Most Wireless in health.
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