How to Safeguard Patient Data Through Security Measures and Compliance

The fast pace of change that characterizes our digital age is compelling industries to be quick on their feet to remain relevant. In being concerned with the most intimate details of human lives, the healthcare industry, in particular, grapples with two pressing and simultaneous challenges. First, to adopt a data-enabled approach to improve the patient-care experience. Second, to ensure that doing so doesn’t in any way imperil patient privacy.

Healthcare data privacy standards have been in place for years now, beginning with the signing of the Healthcare Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) into law in the mid-90s. However, since then, additional expectations have been placed on firms that utilize data on behalf of consumers. New legislation for enforcement has also been introduced that now makes it possible to take criminal action against offenders and mandates reporting of HIPAA breaches. 

As volumes of healthcare data get digitized, data compliance concerns grow, resulting in the need for more stringent data security standards.

Keeping patient data accessible and safe

In this context, one of the ways that data compliance regulations are being met is by putting the onus of data security on those who collect or use it. For example, companies that hold data on behalf of their members are now directly liable for its safekeeping. As a result, conformance with policies vests at the C-Suite level, and this is critical to corporate performance.

Healthcare players are dealing with these new stringent compliance requirements by leveraging best practices. These include hiring compliance and security vendors to employ proven tools on behalf of healthcare companies. For example, service providers with experience in implementing Know Your Customer/Anti-Money Laundering in the highly regulated financial services industry are in a good position to offer sound policies and practices to those in the healthcare industry.

And yet, this on its own is not enough. Besides holding data safe and within compliant environments, players in the healthcare space must deal with ever-expanding data sets. This is because data is now extracted not only from back-office functions, such as enrollment and claims processing but increasingly from patients themselves. It includes data coming from wearable monitoring devices or additional systems, which may be in use for care coordination and chronic condition management. 

Deploying advanced tech to streamline data access

As the ecosystem of data increases, ensuring compliance in the areas of Identity and Access Management becomes critical. Some of the tools that are proving to be relevant and effective in this context are the deployment of advanced technologies such as blockchain to provide seamless and secure sharing of patient data.

Blockchain-enabled fintech platforms, such as GemOS, provide a common ledger to insurance companies, pathology labs, and hospitals to upload, store, and access patient records instantly and safely. While this helps to improve patient care by ensuring that the information required at any point of time in the care continuum is readily available, it also does so by safeguarding data privacy and safety.

Staying one step ahead of fraud

This is not to say that the healthcare sector can sit back and expect technology to control every development that challenges cybersecurity and compliance. Keeping one step ahead of the latest in security requires a thoughtful strategy along with the requisite budget commitment to ensure that you do not rest on past practices. By this, I mean that enterprises must always look at where fraudulent efforts and practices may be moving rather than only redressing where they have been.

And this will become more important as centralization of data picks up momentum. Payer and provider systems on both sides of the healthcare continuum are expected to integrate. Players with sophisticated practices and large investment budgets, including, for example, large cloud providers, will be chosen as reliable partners to help ensure compliance. Further, niche technology experts will be critical collaborators provided they can demonstrate the ability to foresee what may be the next challenge. 

Meanwhile, the need for healthcare players to correctly identify and know the consumer “safely” will continue to be critical as patients access and make available more personal health data from any location and device. As a result, I see fraud detection systems, such as those used in retail payment processing, becoming widespread in healthcare applications.

Undoubtedly, technology continues to drive some of the most remarkable developments in healthcare.  It is technology that we can turn to for support in deploying the most forward-looking cybersecurity measures and foolproof compliance so that patients have the confidence that their data is both accessible and safe.