Security

Healthcare’s Holistic Approach Needs to Apply to Security, Too

Cybersecurity and physical security are more connected than organizations may realize, so security strategies must take a more comprehensive approach.

Ryan Petersen

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Ryan has been a magazine and newspaper editor for 21 years, with the last 15 covering a variety of bases for CDW’s family of tech magazines. As Editor in Chief, he works on developing editorial strategy and is always on the lookout for new writing talent and sharing great stories with the IT world. In his spare time, Ryan enjoys spending time with his family, biking and obsessively following Iowa Hawkeye sports and Cubs baseball.

When the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency launched its first-ever public service announcement right before October, it urged the public to remember the basics.

The theme of CISA’s Cybersecurity Awareness Month campaign was “Secure Our World,” and it focused on four key areas that any individual, business and even healthcare organization could follow: use strong passwords, turn on multifactor authentication, update software regularly, and recognize and report phishing.

Also, in CISA’s 2024-2026 strategic plan, the agency emphasizes a goal to strengthen defenses across all sectors. Cybersecurity professionals are not solely responsible for those efforts. Everyone — from bedside nurses to administrative workers to third-party vendors to patients — plays an active role in cybersecurity.

Just as healthcare organizations are moving toward a whole-person approach to care, there must be a more holistic approach to security that integrates physical and cybersecurity concerns. They are much more connected than you think.

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How Healthcare Organizations Are Maturing in Security

In this quarter, HealthTech offers great insight into maturing strategies and experiences around securing a complex healthcare environment.

In “How Hospitals Are Adopting Artificial Intelligence to Safeguard Patients, Staff,” Arizona-based HonorHealth shares its journey to improve its physical security strategy through analytics-augmented video surveillance. “I think the general theme is to keep patients, staff and everybody involved safe,” says Darren Viner, HonorHealth’s director of security.

In “How Healthcare Is Optimizing Patient Engagement,” the rise of digital patient engagement solutions highlights the importance of keeping cybersecurity top of mind. “Our first goal is really to provide the safest, highest-quality care and an exceptional experience,” says Jerry Vuchak, executive vice president and chief information and innovation officer at Omaha-based Children’s Nebraska.

Also, don’t miss out on security tips to counter ransomware’s impact on healthcare — especially for organizations serving rural communities — in “Lessons Learned from a Hospital’s Closure Due to Ransomware Attack,” written by CDW Healthcare Strategists Mike Gregory and Matt Sickles.

CHECK OUT OUR IN THIS ISSUE VIDEO:

How are #healthcare organizations tackling their #digital #PatientEngagement journeys? Dive into the details in our latest issue: https://t.co/gjNWtLSwwc pic.twitter.com/tjY7mKwjR3

— HealthTech Magazine (@HealthTechMag) December 13, 2023