The pressures faced by healthcare IT administrators are unique, since hospitals and related care centers often represent distributed and decentralized infrastructures with complex data paths. For example, what works for securing a centralized hospital data center might not work for a series of physician practices; what works on a hospital-owned and controlled smartphone or tablet might not translate well to a BYOD environment at a remote clinic. Healthcare IT and security leaders are faced with the daunting task of optimizing their security posture to minimize risks associated with new distributed models of care while simultaneously dealing with a whole new generation of cyber-crime. This session will explore the unique set of cybersecurity challenges in healthcare today, distinguishing true threats from simple noise. Recognizing the difference is crucial for IT leaders to provide hardened, yet flexible data protection measures to ensure the safety and usefulness of patient data without getting in the caregivers’ way.

Learning Objectives

• Describe security threats pummeling the healthcare industry, along with the financial and brand impact on healthcare providers
• Identify how to align security to the business model by building a workable, sustainable security infrastructure that benefits all providers and staff
• Discuss how one IT team was able to bring renewed confidence in protecting patient information to its large integrated healthcare delivery system
• Describe emerging trends in holistic security practices to help protect healthcare organizations and thwart future attacks

Hussein Syed, Chief Information Security Officer, Barnabas Healthcare System