Nov 20, 2014

Currently, firms in the healthcare industry are working to migrate their physical patient records to an electronic platform. However, there are several security implications that must be addressed with this practice, including the use of a secure file sharing system for the safe access and transmission of digital documents.

According to Health IT Outcomes, the Federal Bureau of Investigations recently released a notice alerting healthcare firms as to the risks involved with the move to digital records and employee use of mobile devices.

“The deadline to transition to [electronic health records] is January 2015, which will create an influx of new EHR coupled with more medical devices being connected to the Internet, generating a rich new environment for cyber criminals to exploit,” the FBI notice stated.

Furthermore, groups that don’t comply with industry standards could face serious financial consequences, including reductions in their Medicare reimbursements, Medical Records reported. These reimbursements are reduced by 1 percent each year of noncompliance following the missed deadline.

One way to ensure compliance while also preventing unauthorized access to patient files is with the use of a secure file sharing system. This resource protects sensitive information, while enabling staff members to access and transmit records in a safe environment. This protection measure, coupled with device-level monitoring and remote wiping capabilities, can establish secure connections among digital records and employee hardware.