3 Risks Healthcare IT Needs to Mitigate to Deliver a Better Digital Experience

Earlier, people booking a telehealth appointment was an option, but now it is necessary to avoid the hassle. Digitalization has caused an increase in the number of service providers of virtual healthcare models for hospitals and healthcare centers. It provides a reliable and better digital experience to both patients and doctors. 

The IT department of these healthcare facilities is working extremely hard as they need to ensure the bandwidth of the network, end-to-end security, and the flexibility to meet telemedicine requirements, along with the connectivity between devices, workspaces, and hybrid work options. So, here are a few factors you need to mitigate to deliver a better digital healthcare experience. 

Maintenance of Network Performance of the Healthcare Industry

The hospital’s network infrastructure is similar to a large campus with a difference. Hospitals exist to provide medical assistance to their patients. With the evolution in digitalization, hospitals can have patients across the globe. They can provide their assistance through virtual assistance, which sometimes can be challenging. Providing them with their impeccable services securely and safely through wireless means can sometimes be operationally challenging. Another factor, like massive medical equipment like pumps, monitors, servers, imaging devices, and much more, can be tricky as they add extra bandwidth to virtual healthcare systems. Then the IT department has to deal with them as it can be very challenging and tedious.  

Source  

It can be said that capacity is the only solution to this problem. According to a survey in 2021, IDG communication found that 92% of the global IT leaders have changed their network bandwidth capacity by increasing it. It is done to accommodate multiple connected medical types of equipment from virtual doctor visits, new-from-home amenities, and pop-up clinics. 

Consolidating the Security of Healthcare Centers Against Cyberattacks

Ransomeware attacks on the healthcare industry have increased significantly. According to IBM survey report 2021, the cyberattacks on the healthcare industry have nearly doubled and are linked with ransomware. Also, cyber-threats primarily target the healthcare industry four times more than the others. Its popularity is also increasing due to the sensitive information a hacker can obtain through a ransomware attack. 

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Medical data breaches damage the reputation of the healthcare centers and impact the safety and security of the patients. They will lose their trust, and one doesn’t know the outcome of the data breach as it can be hazardous. It was reported that the average data breach in the healthcare industry is $7 million more than the others. Healthcare industries cannot simply afford the cost of such cyberattacks. Securing the data is critical for their IT department and business. 

Gaps in the Skillsets

The IT department of these healthcare industries does not have good expertise in handling the requirements of hybrid workforces, telehealth, and medical IoT while running their network seamlessly at the same time. To fill a position can be a time-consuming procedure, and many teams are not well trained for such mobile environment, attack prevention, intrusion detection, testing of various healthcare modules, or forensics. Good healthcare IT professionals should be an expert in networking and security who can efficiently assist in navigating the trending world of virtual healthcare that provides the best practices for the telehealth solution.  

Conclusion

You need a skilled workforce and an integrated strategy to ultimately enable the use of the latest telehealth modules, hybrid workforces, and connected medical IoT devices that are continuously evolving. In addition, you need the resources and ability to unlock the increased capacity to scale your requirement and achieve your goals so that your business can grow. You can reach out to the Varutra cybersecurity representative and learn more about our cybersecurity services, as everyone’s requirement is different. Therefore, we especially cater to a personalized security service that will assist you in experiencing a better digital experience for healthcare IT. 

 

Reference

https://blogs.cisco.com/customerexperience/3-risks-healthcare-it-need-to-mitigate-to-deliver-a-better-digital-experience 

https://www.ibm.com/downloads/cas/OJDVQGRY 

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210525005268/en/CoreSite-and-IDG-Communications-Release-2021-State-of-the-Data-Center-Report-Finding-Colocation-Drives-Resiliency-and-Reduces-Total-Cost-of-Ownership-in-Modern-Multi-Cloud-Hybrid-Era

 

Author, 

Sanjana Yadav, 

Marketing Department, 

Varutra Consulting Pvt. Ltd.