Healthcare delivery in recent times has become safer and more convenient with the advent of telemedicine. However, the success of telehealth may be shaky because of increased security and privacy risks associated with it.
In this post, we will discuss the possible cybersecurity risks associated with telemedicine and what telemedicine companies, particularly My Virtual Physician, are doing to ensure you and your information are safe.
Despite its numerous benefits, telemedicine has been associated with both security and privacy risks outlined below.
Digital and monitoring devices are the mainstays of telemedicine. While these devices are necessary to monitor the patient's health in real-time and ensure the patient's safety, the information generated, saved, and transmitted is not often secure.
Also, there are certain non-medical data about the patient, their home, and other activities that these devices and sensors pick and transmit that the patient would have rather kept private. However, aside from healthcare providers, this information can be stored in the device by the manufacturers. Hence, increasing the risk of the information being sold to third parties or used for other reasons such as research, target advertising, and medical fraud.
Furthermore, while privacy policies are provided, most patients give consent without reading or fully understanding them. Hence, the weak privacy protections.
The HIPAA privacy rule is established to ensure the privacy of individuals' protected health information (PHI) and sets the limits or conditions through which that information can be used or disclosed without the individual's authorization.
The pandemic in 2020 led to a sharp rise in telemedicine. According to the CDC, "the number of telehealth visits increased by 50%, compared with the same period in 2019, with a 154% increase in telehealth visits during the last week of March 2020, compared with the same period in 2019".
Consequently, telehealth platforms and apps were developed rapidly within short periods, resulting in many being HIPAA non-compliant. This led to an increased risk of patients' data being accessed by, sold to, or used by third parties indiscriminately.
Most healthcare professionals and providers working from home are permitted and use their personal devices (cell phones, tablets, and computers) for work purposes. Although these devices only access healthcare systems and patient records through a VPN, the risk of data breaches remains high.
Protected health information (PHI) can be saved on and retrieved from these devices if stolen or misplaced. Also, health systems could be hacked into due to inconsistencies in security updates, insecure connections, malware, and user errors, among others.
There is an increase in the number of people working remotely.
A lot of organizations now have their employees working from home. This implies the number of people accessing the network remotely will increase, making it difficult to keep track of users and security measures. Overcrowded networks make it easy for fraudulent or unauthorized users to access healthcare systems and steal patients' information.
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Telehealth companies and healthcare facilities are required to help keep patients' data safe and confident. To do so, below are measures that should be considered:
By strong authentication, we mean the telemedicine platform provides the means to authenticate each party before they can access any confidential information.
This may include logging in with unique usernames, strong and complex passwords, biometrics, as well as provisional two or multi-factor authentication.
This is important to ensure privacy and security.
End-to-end encryption means that only the healthcare provider and the patient are parties to the communication. Once it is implemented, unauthorized persons are not able to listen to or gain access to information exchanged between the two parties, including data sent via mail or cloud.
This applies to both healthcare providers and patients. Digital devices should have the most up-to-date operating system, applications, and firmware. They should avoid connecting to public WiFi when sending information.
If personal devices are being used, healthcare professionals and providers should ensure patients' information is not stored on devices and that those devices can be remotely cleaned if the need arises.
At My Virtual Physician, we are concerned with ensuring the security and privacy of our clients. You may read through our privacy policy and terms of use to get familiar with our platform.
As a telehealth platform, a visit to us helps you get your prenatal care started while you await your appointment with your local OB doctor.
More so, we are available to help guide you through your pregnancy and answer any questions that may arise. We are in network with many insurance health plans including Medicaid, Medicare, United HealthCare, and Blue Cross.
