1. Training & Educating Staff
The first step to begin with, is training & educating your staff regarding security and security risks that can take place. Corporations and organizations all over the world especially national institutions of any country are protected by various security measures. Training & educating the staff will make them prepare for emergency situations. In case of a cyber-attack on online PACS system or any other system, they will follow SOPs and will act accordingly. Nowadays, you can also hire a consultant who can visit multiple times in a week to train & educate your staff. With everyday passing, security breaches are becoming norm of the day. Therefore, it is necessary to provide your staff and management with training on time.
2. Access to Patient Data
Hospitals can be a heaven for someone who wants to steal information and use it for malpractices. Since the hospital is dealing with thousands of people on a daily basis, the protection of patient data becomes a complex task. Hackers can steal this data and use it for almost any purpose they want. If in case, a patient’s data is stolen and is used in taking out funds from bank accounts etc. you could be in a serious trouble.
It is recommended that you audit and control the access to patient data. Protect and use reliable web based PACS viewer. This way it will serve you in terms of who accessed data and when, plus only authorized individuals will be allowed to access data. Employees, who have been terminated, should be removed from the database, so that they do not get back to you in a bid of revenge.
3. Password Protection
People, normally for their email, social media accounts and even in some cases their financial accounts use the same password in a bid to make it easy to remember. While it may be a relief for the user but incase if a hacker gets to hack into his/her account and finds out that the same password is used for almost everything, he/she can create havoc. It is suggested that you update your password on a periodic basis, so that even if the account is hacked, the hacker will have a tough time breaking in and in such cases, you will automatically become aware.
4. Better Software
Installing better tools like online PACS system as compared to the previous one is a necessity. Hospitals nowadays have cyber security systems in place which they highly prioritize. Such software whenever sensing a threat will update themselves. It is recommended that hospitals should spend on anti-malware protection and firewalls to protect data.
5. Backing up Data
Backing your data should never ever be overlooked. You are dealing with so much information on a daily basis that there’s no chance for even the slightest slip. It is not only necessary in case of hacking but also even natural disasters such as hurricanes, floods etc. can cause a lot of damage and put a lot of information at risk. So it is important that you always back up your data and at the same time keep it secured via strong passwords as mentioned above.
