According to a new report released on Thursday, nearly 30% of healthcare providers have had cases where their employees compromised customers’ personal information during remote consultations.
Furthermore, nearly half of providers believe that their clinicians do not understand how their patients’ data is protected.
According to researchers from cyber-security firm Kaspersky, however, 67% of them believe it is critical for the healthcare sector to collect even more personal information in order to further industry development.
Because the recent mass transition to digital health has increased the burden of responsibility on medical providers, the researchers surveyed healthcare decision makers worldwide to gain insights into current security-related telehealth issues and find solutions.
According to the findings, only 17% of healthcare providers are confident that the majority of their clinicians who conduct remote sessions have a clear understanding of how their patients’ data is protected.
“This is despite the fact that 70 per cent of medical organisations have dedicated IT security awareness training,” said the researchers.
To accelerate the evolution of digital health, we must carefully curate, manage, and govern sensitive health data, according to Professor Chengyi Lin, Affiliate Professor of Strategy at INSEAD and a leading expert on digital transformation.
“This information is also valuable to individuals and the healthcare system to improve outcomes and reduce costs. We have already seen encouraging results from using big data for better clinical trial design and reducing both time and costs,” Chengyi said.
Almost 54% of respondents admit that some of their clinicians conduct remote sessions using non-telehealth apps such as FaceTime, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Zoom, and others.
“The more complex and critical technology is, the more awareness it requires from people who work with it. This is particularly important for the healthcare industry entering the new digital stage and increasingly facing issues connected to privacy and security,” commented Denis Barinov, Head of Kaspersky Academy.
Despite the current challenges with data security, physicians believe that data collection is one of the most important aspects of medical technology development.
Almost seven out of ten (67%) respondents agree that the industry needs to collect more personal information than it currently does in order to train AI and ensure a reliable diagnosis.
