Reporting from the Healthcare IT News Privacy and Security Forum: Part II

Tim Zoph, SVP and CIO of Northwest Memorial Healthcare, set the tone for the HIMSS and Healthcare IT News Privacy and Security Forum by sharing a stunning statistic: an estimated 21 million people have been affected by a security breach over the last few years.

We heard later in the day that many actually believe this figure to be severely under-reported, with the real number possibly twice as high. Regardless, Tim challenged the industry to acknowledge that its collective efforts to protect patient information have not been good enough, and that they must make a driven effort to change.

“We need more defense because the offense is ramping up,” he said. This powerful statement drove home the point that technology and its shift to mobility makes patient information more vulnerable.  Compounding the challenge is that many physicians need to be convinced that a culture of security is not an impediment to patient care and actually can improve efficiency and accuracy. In order for solutions to overcome these hurdles, Tim recommended that the solutions be simple, flexible and cost effective. OpenText offers a broad range of data security solutions, many with healthcare-specific integrations. You can learn more about our healthcare solutions here.

To conclude his keynote, Tim talked about the responsibility healthcare plays in the community. In light of super storm Sandy, he reminded everyone that people look to their healthcare institutions in times of crisis and draw hope from them when they are the last lights on in the neighborhood. Protecting patient information is a critical part of maintaining the public’s trust, so healthcare organizations must improve their security efforts in order to truly fulfill their mission of serving the community.

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