The healthcare sector, with its vast amounts of sensitive patient data, has become a prime target for cybercriminals. Research shows that over a quarter (28%) of all data breaches occurred in healthcare organizations, with other sectors such as financial services being more frequently affected.
Of particular concern is the fact that 35% of these healthcare data breaches are attributed to third-party vendors, highlighting the critical importance of third-party risk management in healthcare.
This trend underscores the urgent need for third-party healthcare vendor risk management to be a top priority for Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs). Implementing healthcare cybersecurity best practices is critical to protecting sensitive patient data and maintaining regulatory compliance.
As cyberattacks continue to increase across the healthcare supply chain, CISO healthcare security strategies must evolve to address these complex challenges, with a focus on mitigating third-party risks that could expose organizations to significant threats.
Why is Third-Party Risk Management in Healthcare Important?
Third-party risk management in healthcare has emerged as a critical component of a robust cybersecurity strategy due to the increasing reliance on external vendors for critical services. Integrating third-party services such as electronic health record management (EHR), telemedicine platforms, cloud storage, and medical devices undoubtedly improves operational efficiency.
However, this also significantly increases the risk of cyberattacks, as even a small security flaw in a third-party provider’s system can have catastrophic consequences for the healthcare provider.
An example of this vulnerability is the cyberattack on Change Healthcare, a major provider of business and pharmacy operations services to the healthcare industry. This cyberattack had devastating consequences, causing widespread disruption and financial losses to hospitals, physicians, and medical groups due to delayed payments. Industry experts called it one of the most damaging cyberattacks to ever hit the healthcare sector, highlighting the serious risks posed by third-party security breaches.
For hospitals and healthcare facilities, such violations not only have financial consequences, they also pose significant risks to patient safety.
That’s why third-party healthcare vendor risk management is a top priority for CISOs. By ensuring that all external partners adhere to strict security standards, CISOs can better protect sensitive patient data and maintain the integrity of their organization’s security posture. Implementing healthcare security CISO strategies that focus on thorough review, continuous monitoring, and strict adherence to security protocols is essential to mitigating the risks associated with third-party vendors.
Best practices for cybersecurity in healthcare
Healthcare CISOs must take a layered approach to cybersecurity and ensure that best practices are not only implemented within their organization but also extended to third-party vendors. This includes:
- Security ratings from providers: Conduct thorough security assessments of all third-party providers before entering into contracts. This includes evaluating their data protection techniques, compliance with industry regulations, and the robustness of their security infrastructure.
- Continuous monitoring: Implement continuous monitoring of third-party vendors to detect changes in their security posture so that potential risks can be identified and mitigated before they can impact the healthcare organization.
- Contractual obligations: Ensure that all third-party contracts include specific cybersecurity requirements, such as HIPAA compliance, data encryption standards, and incident response protocols.
Other CISO strategies for healthcare security include
- Methods for risk assessment for healthcare safety: By implementing a risk scoring system, CISOs can quantify the level of risk associated with each third-party provider. This method evaluates several factors, such as the sensitivity of the data the provider handles, the provider’s security history, and the potential impact of a breach. A higher risk score would indicate that more stringent security controls and more frequent assessments are needed.
- Segmentation and access control: Limit third-party access to necessary parts of the network. This minimizes the potential damage in the event of a breach and ensures that sensitive health data is only accessible to those who absolutely need it.
- Security awareness training: Extend security awareness training to third parties and ensure they understand the threats specific to the healthcare industry and best practices for mitigating them.
Techniques for protecting health data
Protecting healthcare data is a top priority for CISOs. This responsibility also extends to any third-party vendors that handle such data. Key data protection techniques include:
- Data encryption: Ensure that all data, whether at rest or in transit, is encrypted using industry-standard encryption methods. This is especially important when data is transferred between the healthcare organization and a third-party provider.
- Data minimization: Encourage third-party service providers to practice data minimization and collect and store only the data necessary to provide their services. This reduces the risk of disclosure in the event of a breach.
- Regular audits: Conduct regular audits of third-party providers to ensure they adhere to agreed data protection standards. These audits should include a review of access logs, encryption practices and general security measures.
Diploma
CISOs must remain vigilant in managing third-party risk. By implementing rigorous healthcare security risk assessment methodologies, enforcing strict data protection techniques, and extending healthcare cybersecurity best practices to third-party providers, CISOs can significantly reduce the risk of breaches and ensure the safety of patient data. As the healthcare industry continues to rely on third-party services, effective risk management strategies are critical to maintaining trust and compliance in this highly regulated sector.
In addition, Cyble provides a powerful third-party risk management tool for healthcare that helps secure digital assets by actively monitoring and managing potential entry points in web and mobile apps, cloud devices, domains, email servers, IoT devices, and public code repositories. By leveraging healthcare platforms, hospitals can achieve effective third-party risk reduction and strengthen their cybersecurity measures.
Discover how Cyble can help with healthcare cybersecurity and ensure a comprehensive approach to third-party risk management in healthcare.
