Question
With more and more healthcare providers moving their patient records to the cloud, it makes me wonder – is our patient data really safe online?
Answer
In order to answer this question, we must determine how to evaluate the safety of cloud-based solutions. The US Department of Health and Human Services website discloses all health record security breaches that affect more than 500 individuals. Examining this data truly allows us to accurately determine how patient information is breached. The graph below shows all of the different types of healthcare-related security breaches since 2009 and their frequency.
As you can see from the graph, 63% of the security breaches were due to physical theft and loss, while only 6% were due to hacking and/or IT (information technology) issues. The majority of reported breaches come from misplaced documents, stolen laptops and old equipment that has been disposed of improperly. All these issues are related to on-premise systems, not cloud-based solutions.
Thanks to the diligent reporting of the US Department of Health and Human Services, we are able to accurately determine the safety of cloud-based systems being utilized by healthcare providers today. Modern data centers that hold information stored on cloud-based systems will spend more money on the latest security technology than most private practices and small healthcare organizations in the country. Most of the security breaches reported are due to data being accessible on hard drives or carelessness when handling equipment outside the office. When using cloud-based systems, all of the patient data is stored offsite, so there is no patient data to lose when hard drives are lost or stolen.
To request information about Sycle’s cloud-based practice management system, please visit https://www.sycle.net/. You may also learn more about Sycle.net on the Sycle.net Expo Page on AudiologyOnline.
