The healthcare sector has faced a set of daunting challenges over the past decade. There has been ongoing volatility in healthcare legislation, constant pressure to update data sharing capabilities, a push toward new care delivery models, and on top of all that, a cyber threat landscape that surpasses most other industries.

All of these burdens, it should be noted, fall outside of the core services provider groups offer. So, if you are part of a healthcare practice or partnership, and you’re feeling overwhelmed with the responsibility of securing your systems … we understand.

You are not alone in your worries. In fact, upon taking the pulse of the healthcare industry through a nationwide survey, Accenture and the American Medical Association found that around 55% of physicians are “concerned” or “extremely concerned” about the prospect of a cyber attack. An alarming 83% of respondents claimed they had experienced a data breach over the course of the year.

Now is not the time to throw your hands up in dismay. An overwhelming 85% of survey respondents agreed that to improve care, it is important to exchange data securely outside of internal systems. The competitive landscape will reward those groups who are able to do this. Those providers who cannot may fall behind their sector in the coming years.

As such, healthcare practices need solutions for addressing their security predicament. They also must be able to act on their challenges without shifting focus away from their core capabilities of care delivery. Part of the answer, for many practices, is partnership with third-party vendors for managed security services. Such partners can help providers routinely monitor their systems, provide intelligent and actionable reports, assist with incident response and more.

However, privacy and security must also be a basic competence of healthcare organizations. Even for small partnerships, providers and staff need to understand and execute best practices. Networks and resources must be configured for security, and security plans and procedures need to be documented for repeatability.

In addition to managed security solutions, Lunarline offers healthcare-industry-specific resources that can help practitioners get up to speed. For more information on how we can help you, contact us online today.