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Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2024: A Wake-Up Call for the Healthcare Industry

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The Decision: Will You Take Action or Take a Chance?

As we move further into the digital age, healthcare organizations are more connected than ever before. Electronic Health Records (EHR), telemedicine platforms, and cloud-based systems have transformed the industry, improving patient care and streamlining operations.

However, this digital transformation has also made healthcare a prime target for cyberattacks. Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2024 serves as a timely reminder of why cybersecurity is not just an IT issue but a critical priority for healthcare providers across the board, also stressing the need for the right downtime solutions to be in place.

 

Why Healthcare Is a Top Target for Cyberattacks

Healthcare data is highly valuable on the dark web, making hospitals and clinics lucrative targets for cybercriminals. Personal health information (PHI) is more than just data—it’s a goldmine for fraudsters. In fact, PHI can be worth up to 10 times more than credit card information, according to industry studies.

Despite the clear risks, many healthcare organizations remain unprepared for the scale and sophistication of today’s cyber threats. The staggering statistics below highlight why cybersecurity is more important than ever for healthcare in 2024:

  • 54% of healthcare organizations have experienced a cyberattack in the past year. (Cisco)
  • Phishing attacks surged by 58.2% in 2023. (Zscaler)
  • 68% of data breaches involved unintentional errors by healthcare staff. (Verizon)
  • Cyberattacks in healthcare increased by 39% in 2023, making it the most targeted industry. (Check Point Research)

With threats growing in frequency and complexity, Cybersecurity Awareness Month is a critical opportunity for healthcare leaders to take action and ensure that every employee is equipped to play their part in keeping patient data safe.

The Human Factor: Why Training is Essential

When people think of cyberattacks, they often imagine sophisticated hackers breaking through firewalls or exploiting vulnerabilities in software. But in reality, the majority of breaches in healthcare result from human error. According to a 2024 Verizon Data Breach Report, 68% of breaches involved unintentional actions by well-meaning staff, such as clicking on phishing emails or using weak passwords.

Phishing is a particularly widespread problem. In fact, phishing attacks increased by 58.2% in 2023, with healthcare workers being prime targets. Attackers prey on busy staff, sending emails that mimic legitimate communications. All it takes is one click for an attacker to gain access to sensitive patient data or hospital systems.

Educating healthcare professionals on cybersecurity risks—especially phishing—must be a top priority. Cybersecurity Awareness Month is the perfect time to initiate training programs that help staff recognize and respond to threats in real-time.

The High Stakes of Healthcare Downtime

The consequences of a cyberattack in healthcare go far beyond financial losses. When systems go down, the impact on patient care can be immediate and severe. Hospitals depend on EHR systems to track patient histories, medications, and lab results. When these systems are compromised, care teams are left scrambling, increasing the risk of medical errors and delayed treatments.

According to a 2023 Ponemon Institute report, the average downtime following a cyberattack costs healthcare organizations about $9,000 per minute. But the real cost is measured in the trust and safety of patients. Delays in critical care can lead to serious harm—or worse.

Ransomware: A Growing Threat to Healthcare

Ransomware attacks—where hackers encrypt critical data and demand payment for its release—are on the rise. Healthcare, with its sensitive data and life-saving systems, is an attractive target. In 2023, the healthcare sector saw a 35% increase in ransomware incidents, according to the IBM Cost of a Data Breach Report.

The stakes are clear: paying a ransom doesn’t just lead to financial losses, it can also cause long-term damage to a hospital’s reputation. Worse, paying a ransom doesn’t guarantee that data will be restored—nearly 20% of organizations that pay a ransom never get their data back.

The Solution: Cybersecurity is Everyone’s Responsibility

The good news is that many of these risks are preventable. While cybersecurity experts play a crucial role in maintaining defenses, every employee has a part to play in keeping patient data and healthcare systems secure.

Here are key steps that healthcare organizations should take to bolster their defenses:

  1. Regular Training and Awareness Programs
    Every healthcare worker should receive regular cybersecurity training that covers phishing, password management, and reporting suspicious activity. Continuous education helps keep cybersecurity top of mind in fast-paced environments like hospitals.
  2. Implement Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
    Multi-factor authentication is one of the easiest ways to protect sensitive systems. Requiring multiple forms of verification significantly reduces the risk of unauthorized access, even if login credentials are compromised.
  3. Develop a Robust Incident Response Plan
    Cybersecurity Awareness Month is the perfect time to review your organization’s incident response plan. Does everyone know what to do in the event of a cyberattack? How quickly can you recover from a breach? Having a clear, well-practiced response plan can mitigate the damage and reduce downtime.
  4. Regularly Update and Patch Systems
    Cybercriminals often exploit outdated software and systems. Ensuring that all software is up to date and that patches are applied in a timely manner can close vulnerabilities before attackers can exploit them.

Conclusion: Make Cybersecurity a Priority This October

As Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2024 unfolds, healthcare organizations have an opportunity to assess and strengthen their defenses. The statistics are clear: cyber threats are growing, and healthcare is in the crosshairs. By educating employees, implementing best practices, and staying vigilant, healthcare leaders can protect both their patients and their organizations from the devastating impact of a cyberattack.

Cybersecurity isn’t just about protecting data—it’s about safeguarding patient care, trust, and the future of healthcare. This October, make cybersecurity a priority across your entire organization.

You can’t control when an attack will come, but you can control how prepared you are when it does. Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2024 is your opportunity to strengthen your defenses, educate your team, and protect your patients. This is more than an IT issue—it’s about patient safety and trust. Are you willing to leave those critical factors to chance?

 

We look forward to continuing these conversations during Cybersecurity Awareness month at the HIMSS Healthcare Cybersecurity Forum October 31 – November 1 in Washington, DC. Are you attending? Let’s schedule a time to connect.

 

 

About the Author:

Lauren Ziegler is the Director of Marketing Communications at Interlace Health. She oversees Interlace Health’s corporate communications, content, branding, events, and digital marketing efforts. She brings over fifteen years of experience in helping support technology firm’s marketing and PR efforts.  Lauren is passionate about helping the healthcare community understand Interlace’s Health’s value, vision, and commitment to improving experiences for providers, patients, and staff. Find Lauren on LinkedIn.

 

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Being Prepared for Downtime Events in Healthcare

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Electronic health records (EHRs) are used at most hospitals around the world, and downtime events, whether planned or unplanned, are unfortunately inevitable and common. These events can directly impact patient safety, revenue, staff productivity, and the patient experience.

Unplanned downtime can also have a devasting impact on finances. With each added minute, an idle EHR can dramatically impair the functionality of your hospital and, on average, cost an incredible $8,662 per minute.

According to the HIPAA Security Rule, hospitals must prepare a contingency plan for each type of foreseeable disaster, including natural disasters, fires, vandalism, system failures, ransomware incidents, and as we’ve seen sweeping headlines this year: cyberattacks.

Lurie Children’s Hospital and Ascension Healthcare are among many healthcare organizations recently targeted by increasingly sophisticated cybercriminals. Cyberattacks can dramatically impact hospital operations, leading to postponed appointments, surgeries, and complicated patient care. In 2022, a record 725 large healthcare security breaches were reported, up 93% since 2018. Healthcare systems are prime targets due to their size, reliance on technology, and vast amounts of sensitive data.

HIPAA’s primary concern is that hospitals return to normal operations as quickly as possible and that the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of private health information (PHI) is safeguarded.

 

Why you can’t afford to be unprepared

Downtime events are a particularly risky time for patients as patient information and critical EHR functionality are unavailable. These downtime dysfunctions can often result in delayed or suboptimal care. In fact, a JAMIA report reported that 49% of downtime errors were due to inappropriate labeling by the lab or positive patient identification (PPID), which led to unnecessary redraws. Another 13% of errors were related to a general delay in care, which can impact patient and staff satisfaction.

Healthcare organizations averaged a whopping 18.7 days of downtime in 2023 (*Infosecurity Magazine). If your hospital has been using EHR for years, staff members are less likely to be familiar or comfortable with paper-based care processes during this time. Hospital staff may not know how to complete paper orders for pathology, fluid management, patient observations, and medication charts. This can make downtime events a stressful and error-prone time for healthcare workers.

Tips for preparing your hospital for a downtime event 

Since downtime events are inevitable, what can you do to prepare your hospital to prepare staff members and protect patients when they occur?

First, understand that your hospital’s existing processes for both registration and clinical documentation during a downtime situation. Next, you’ll want to look at the challenges that your staff faced during your most recent downtime. Were there PPID issues or inefficiencies related to time or costs that you can easily address in your downtime plan?

During downtime events hospital staff must be able to admit and register patients just as quickly as they would in their EHR. You want to maintain continuity of care and to be able to document clinical information. Your staff must be able to access the most up-to-date forms quickly and easily. You also want to minimize the overall impacts of downtime. To get back online quickly and upload those forms easily into your EHR.

It’s vitally important for hospitals to maintain continuity of care during a downtime situation. Having access to the most up-to-date clinical forms during this time is critical. You’ll need the ability to auto print registration forms, armbands and labels with barcodes for positive patient identification and accurate scanning back into the hospitals EHR. You’ll also want staff to feel confident that they’re pulling the right forms and won’t have to repeat the process after the downtime has ended.

 

Finding the right support

Preparing for downtime events can be complicated and time-consuming, but there’s no need to go it alone. Interlace Health can build a downtime process to suit your workflow needs. Our custom solutions are designed to provide seamless integration within your existing systems.

A comprehensive business continuity plan during downtime must prioritize patient admission and care. Interlace Health ensures this through our robust digital forms library, accessible both online and offline. This guarantees the availability of patient forms, facilitating uninterrupted care and smooth integration of documents into the legal health record once normal operations resume.

With Downtime Solutions by Interlace Health, you can easily print forms for manual reentry into your EHR or use HL7 messaging to send forms back into the EHR automatically. Interlace Health provides a pathway for hospital staff to access the forms library, populate patient information automatically, and have quick access to on-demand printing.

How Interlace Health can support you during downtime:

  • Digital Forms Library – print or sign patient forms during scheduled or unscheduled EHR downtime events.
    • Barcodes enable error-free scanning back to the EHR
  • Registration Downtime – Interlace Health can help you register patients during downtime events to generate patient forms for care (wristband, facesheet, nursing notes, consents, etc.)
  • Clinical Documentation – Access physician order sets, plans of care, etc. Interlace Health creates a single source of truth  – providing access to updated forms.

Our solutions enable hospital staff to access physician order sets on the hospital web browser. For planned downtime, they can print packets of essential forms ahead of time. All forms generated can be easily archived back into the system when it’s up again. You won’t lose information or communication, and you’ll never need to disrupt patient care.

A few benefits of leveraging Interlace Health during downtime include:

  • Avoid disruptions to patient care
  • Improve compliance, accuracy, and patient safety
  • Avoid disruptions to your revenue cycle
  • Admit new patients and ensure all required forms are generated and completed
  • Barcoded patient forms to enable auto-indexing during scanning
  • Continuation of elective procedures and patient consenting process

When it comes to downtime in healthcare, well there just isn’t room for it. Interlace Health has been around for over 30 years and our customized solutions are at work in over 1,100 healthcare organizations. We’d love the opportunity to help share more details on how we can promote business continuity during your organization’s unfortunate, yet inevitable downtime events. Contact us to schedule your personalized demo.

 

 

About the Author:

Art Nicholas, Chief Commercial Officer at Interlace Health, has over 20 years of experience in launching and expanding technologies in the healthcare field. He was a pioneer in getting speech recognition used by both doctors and nurses in inpatient and outpatient settings. In every role, his teams have successfully implemented automated workflows which benefit patients, providers and the healthcare ecosystem. A strong believer in the healthcare IT community, he has been an active member of CHIME, HIMSS, and MUSE, sitting on a number of their committees. He is committed to improving the quality of patient care and lowering the cost of care delivery through well-designed and well-supported technology workflow solutions. Follow Art on LinkedIn.

 

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