Telehealth (virtual care) usage has skyrocketed during the pandemic. When you roll back the tape a few months, healthcare providers were able to (very quickly) stand up virtual care capabilities without having to go through the intensive HIPAA compliance protocols required in the healthcare industry. Some healthcare providers have been able to tap nontraditional technologies such as Apple’s FaceTime as a stopgap measure for virtual care.
The accelerated innovation in delivering virtual care to the population was and is a good thing, but when speed takes precedence over security, there will be inevitable challenges. In fact, virtual care platforms have been susceptible to cyberattacks, with evidence indicating attacks on such platforms increased by 30% this year.
Make no mistake: Virtual care is becoming a core component of patient care moving forward, but healthcare organizations (HCOs) need to prioritize security and privacy as:
HCOs Need To Play The Long Game For Virtual Care By Making Preparations Now
Long-term success for virtual care deployments hinges on balancing ease of use and security and privacy. Providers are already hampered by a significant administrative burden and diverging workflows. There are many steps HCOs can take now to achieve this balance.
For starters, security professionals must:
The scalability of the technology and the vendor are just two of several factors healthcare providers will need to consider as they transition their virtual care deployments from the pandemic to a long-term viable care model.
The original Forrester article is here. The authors include senior analysts Arielle Trzcinski and Christopher Sherman, analyst Alla Valente, and vice president and research director Daniel Hong. The article was written with senior research associate Benjamin Corey.
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