The “audits and penalties” approach to data security won’t be as effective in boosting healthcare security as collaborating to fix the root of the issue will be, Mr. Probst writes.
Security audits, Mr. Probst argues, cost valuable time and money, requiring incredible amounts of data and policy and procedure requests that can “paralyze” the security infrastructure of a healthcare organization by detracting attention away from the actual cybersecurity responsibilities.
“The federal government should reassess the effectiveness and need for drastic penalties and processes,” Mr. Probst writes. “Let’s stop wasting time on meaningless assessments that only drain healthcare organizations of critical data security resources and use that time and energy to enhance the security of our patients’ data and increase their confidence in our overall ability to maintain that security.”
No one organization is going to be able to resolve the challenge of data security, so the industry and government should collaborate to develop solutions and move forward in a meaningful way, Mr. Probst writes.
“The answers aren’t simple, but they exist,” he says. “Together, by pooling resources and knowledge, we can better protect the data for which both the government and healthcare organizations have stewardship.”
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