Posted By Amanda Girard On July 16, 2021
Protect Patient Data from CyberAttack: 5 EHR Security Features
Major hacking events are now commonplace and will become even more prevalent, sophisticated and severe. Prime targets include healthcare agencies, school districts, city governments, etc. According to the ninth annual Health IT Industry Outlook Survey, 25% of healthcare organizations plan to invest their IT dollars on cybersecurity this year. Wisely invest your IT budget and protect patient data from cyberattack with these top 5 security features for your Electronic Health Record (EHR) solution.
Top 5 Features in Secure EHR Solutions
1. Stringent Environment
Look for secure EHR solutions with a hardened environment in their CRM infrastructure, strict user access requirements and detailed auditing. You can get multiple layers of security with 2-Factor Authentication. 2-factor authentication keeps protected health information (PHI) more secure when accessed remotely.
2. Contingency Plans
Verify your EHR vendor has well established backup and disaster recovery policies. These emergency playbooks can get you back online during scenarios like cyberattacks, the entire infrastructure being unavailable, primary data going down, etc.
3. Secure Backup
Check how frequently your EHR solution backs up its data. Frequent backups prevent losing months of information if something were to go wrong. Your critical patient data should also be stored in multiple places, off site and in cloud backup, in the event one system goes down.
4. Data Security
EHR systems designed with all of the modern security challenges in mind utilize the latest security and encryption best practices. Verify it uses secure web browsers to access the internet. Your EHR solution should be able to protect patient data from cyberattack both at rest or in transit.
5. Certified System
Get EHR solutions with security certifications issued by reputable accrediting agencies such as databrackets. These certifications ensure that your EHR service providers have been audited for their ability to provide secure data management to you and your patients. Some of the certifications you can check for are SOC 1, SOC 2 and HITECH.
If you would like more information about the security of our Patagonia Health EHR system, please contact your account manager or one of our reps to learn more.
