October 12, 2023
During Cybersecurity Awareness Month this October, OCHIN is raising awareness about the importance of resilient health IT systems for community health organizations to improve patient privacy and safeguard access to care.
The health care sector is a top target for cyber criminals. Since January, the medical data of more than 61 million people has been stolen or exposed in more than 400 cyberattacks on health care organizations, and the average cost of a data breach per attack has reached a record high of nearly $11 million in 2023. Individual community health care organizations can’t be left to face today’s increasingly sophisticated, and often state-sponsored, cybersecurity threats alone.
OCHIN is committed to supporting our members with cybersecurity solutions and expertise to help them achieve greater peace of mind while advocating for greater protections nationally.
Community health organizations need connected health information technology (IT) infrastructure to serve patients in their communities. Strengthening the security of this infrastructure and enhancing cyber resiliency in rural and medically underserved communities that may be more vulnerable in a natural disaster, public health emergency, or cybersecurity crisis is vital to protecting patient data, avoiding interruption of critical operations, and safeguarding access to care.
This Cybersecurity Awareness Month, we celebrate the progress we have made in helping our members measurably reduce vulnerability and tighten data security.
OCHIN’s direct Cybersecurity Assessment Services (CAS) help identify threats and system vulnerabilities that may impact infrastructure, patients, or practices. Network vulnerability and penetration testing proactively identify cybersecurity vulnerabilities without causing any harm to current systems or compromising sensitive HIPAA-related patient information. This real-time cyberthreat analysis and vulnerability mapping helps improve security posture, harden networks, and protect community health care organizations from malicious attacks.
A recent evaluation of OCHIN’s CAS found that overall satisfaction with the program is high:
- 89% of members are satisfied or very satisfied
- Members trust OCHIN for cybersecurity services because OCHIN is already a trusted partner
- In addition to appreciating the low cost of services, members appreciated the support OCHIN provided before, during, and after the implementation process and plan to continue services in the future
Now and throughout the year, we are dedicated to helping our members mitigate risk through resilient health IT systems, advocating for systemic investments to enhance cyber resiliency nationwide, and building partnerships and solutions to tighten data security and support access to care for all patients, even during a crisis.
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