Challenges in Modern Health Care

Challenges in Modern Health Care

Healthcare industry is one of the most significant pillars of the economy in the world, making it a target for digital security threats, both wicked and trivial. Risks can become in different forms; systematic hacking, unprotected mobile devices, and human error. After being one of the most prominent institutions holding sensitive information, managing IT solutions is a big challenge. Healthcare industry is facing different challenges in keeping patients information safe. Some of the problems are discussed below.

Different data management strategies

Medical institutions have recently preferred electronic medical records to manual records. As the medical institutions are rolling out innovations to improve patient care and facility operations, the upgrade has limited the capability “speak” to each other (Catena & Holweg, 2019). Lack of ability to interface across systems prohibits the capability to rum processes, capturing, and usage of data efficiently, decreasing the return on investment for technology.

IT Cost Goes Up

Cost for IT devices and drivers have recently gone up, hence becoming a challenge for Healthcare institutions. Government regulations, the pressure to comply with the Affordable Care Act Insurance Exchanges (Nordsteien & Byström, 2018). Medical practitioners are looking forward to changing their ways in IT infrastructure, going for more practical methods, and cloud services.

More Data to Store

Healthcare institutions store a lot of data, creating a need for more data storage to cater for growing volumes of data annually. Fast-thinking medical institutions have begun implementing strategies that include virtual, on-site, and off-site storage (Goldenberg & Grantcharov, 2018). But improving storage capacity needs the creation of new software for managing large, and growing volumes of data that exists in different medical fields. Providing security for the increasingly large amounts of data is also necessary.

More Emerging Data Sources

Healthcare data usage has grown tremendously due to a variety of reasons. Electronic medical records, digital imaging technologies, and resource-taxing application are overstraining the existing data infrastructure. The increasing use of telemedicine devices, mobile applications generate a lot of data which needs to be secured and managed (Nordsteien & Byström, 2018). When data comes from many different sources, it makes storage and protection of the data more difficult and complicated.

Federal Privacy Requirements

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requires medical practitioners to protect patients’ medical information. Federal Law requires strict measures for backing up data together with data recovery during emergencies (Blakemore, 2018). Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH), supported HIPAA and raised consequences and necessities for compulsory notification once data breaches occur.

User Errors

Patients are capable of accessing medical records through a portal provided by healthcare. When a patient stores files in unprotected folders on their laptop or public cyber café, they create an easy way for hackers which also puts the health care systems at risk (Catena & Holweg, 2019). Several devices used by medical practitioners, patients, and visitors are growing big. Fast communication is required to ensure quality care for patients, which makes network availability essential. All these devices contain operating systems that are vulnerable to hacking hence exposing the hospital’s policies.

Healthcare industry is facing IT problems due to the explosion of data, regulatory environment, and other factors. An increase of efficiency in data collection and an effective IT plan healthcare institutions can protect their employees and patients.