Healthcare cybersecurity requires collective action
In the rapidly evolving landscape of healthcare, organizations are grappling with the challenges of budget constraints and workforce shortages while striving to improve their cybersecurity. One solution that's gaining traction is forming strategic partnerships with healthcare security experts.
These partnerships offer a more holistic approach to security, providing specialized knowledge, advanced technology solutions, and managed services that optimize limited resources. This approach helps healthcare entities modernize their security infrastructure, enhance compliance, and effectively defend against increasingly sophisticated cyber threats.
Luminis Health, a healthcare provider in Maryland, provides a compelling example of this strategy. After merging two hospitals and preparing for its next growth phase, Luminis Health examined its security posture. Mike Widerman, CISO of Luminis Health, prioritized ensuring the same security protections and a consistent set of eyes and ears across the merged system.
Partnerships can help healthcare organizations prioritize and patch system vulnerabilities, implement modern identity and access management solutions, augment limited internal cybersecurity workforces with managed security services, and enable data-driven security investment decisions. By doing so, they can address complex ecosystem vulnerabilities and improve their overall defense against ransomware, data breaches, and other cyber threats critical to protecting patient data and care continuity.
Tanya Townsend, senior vice president and CIO of New Orleans-based LCMC Health, understands the importance of this approach. In an interview, she discussed her career in healthcare IT and becoming LCMC Health's first CIO. Townsend emphasized the importance of user education in cybersecurity due to the increasing sophistication in social engineering and phishing campaigns.
The article "Stronger Together: IT Integration and Security Lessons from Healthcare M&As" offers insights into the challenges and solutions of IT integration and security in healthcare mergers or acquisitions. It highlights the crucial step of focusing on security posture, as demonstrated by Luminis Health, in preparing for growth after a merger or acquisition.
Cybersecurity professionals are in urgent demand in healthcare due to potential vulnerabilities in connected medical devices and ransomware attacks. Healthcare organizations can rely on partnerships to improve their security, similar to how care teams work together to treat patients.
It's crucial to note that healthcare organizations are facing a staffing shortage in physicians, nurses, and cybersecurity professionals. Despite these challenges, strategic partnerships can help these organizations compensate for their resource limitations and protect the sensitive data they handle.
Cyberattacks on healthcare systems can have a significant impact on patient care. As such, it's essential for healthcare organizations to prioritize their cybersecurity efforts and consider strategic partnerships as a viable solution.
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- To fortify their cybersecurity infrastructure amid resource limitations and the escalating threats, healthcare organizations are seeking strategic partnerships with cybersecurity experts, as demonstrated by Luminis Health and LCMC Health.
- Leveraging technology and specialized knowledge from these partnerships, healthcare entities can optimize their resources, bolster compliance, and ensure effective defense against cyberattacks, safeguarding both patient data and care continuity.
