Exploring Healthcare Security From A Global Perspective

Around the world, healthcare organizations are increasingly adopting digital solutions in order to streamline systems and improve care. In order to do that, however, they also need to ensure that all digitized information is fully secured. In the United States, that takes the form of HIPAA regulations, but in other countries, they have alternative approaches. There’s also a growing emphasis on using internationally compliant security practices, making it easier for providers to collaborate in a connected world.

Growing cloud adoption
While there are many types of healthcare technology, the most important format for the industry right now is cloud-based tech. Cloud technology is transforming healthcare by integrating multiple input sources, connecting practitioners across practices, and supporting advanced analytics tools. As with businesses in many other industries, the cloud is helping healthcare organizations see the bigger picture.

These new technologies are important and, unlike in the US where cloud-based platforms are considered the norm, they’re still considered groundbreaking in other regions. Just this year, for example, a Mayo Clinic affiliate in Saudi Arabia became the first in the country to adopt a cloud-based EMR. Meanwhile, these same platforms are among the most substantial spending priorities for healthcare organizations in APAC, the broader Asia-Pacific region that includes those parts of Asia closest to the Pacific Ocean, Australasia, and Oceania.

Stepping up security
While the US has a specific framework for healthcare privacy in HIPAA, HIPAA is hardly a comprehensive system on its own and, furthermore, as technology evolves, HIPAA is being outpaced by hackers and other cybercriminals. Add onto that non-medical health devices like wearable fitness trackers that aren’t bound by such security protocols, and things only become more complicated – so, how can healthcare organizations put their security situation in order?

Part of selecting appropriate cloud-based technology for both local and global applications involves looking for programs that offer multiple forms of security compliance. For example, while many programs advertise HIPAA compliant cloud storage, the most popular technology specific framework in the United States is actually the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) guidelines, which are used by 57.9% of organizations. Like HIPAA, NIST is also technically an American standard; the developers regularly collaborate with international organizations to develop complementary standards.

A much less widely used but distinctly international security strategy are the International Organization for Standards (ISO) and International Electrotechnical Committee (IEC). These two organizations offer countless standards for different technical processes, but the standard information management system is known as ISO/IEC 27000. This is, among other rules, the standard used for medical devices in Germany.

Many standards, many shortfalls
Even beyond HIPAA, NIST, and ISO/IEC, there are numerous cybersecurity frameworks that can be used for healthcare, including HITRUST, CIS, and COBIT, but perhaps the most important thing to know about these standards is that they struggle to keep up with the broader digital world.
In order to ensure that sensitive healthcare information is properly secured, then, organizations will want to choose a basic standard to ensure regional compliance and pair it with more advanced strategies. Healthcare requires that you go above and beyond in the name of security, and while organizations need standards, these digital regulations rarely go far enough.