Importance of Azure Security Management for Healthcare Data

The robust and comprehensive resources of Azure Security help organizations across all industries. However, businesses can take security a step further by working with expert management partners.

While this option is useful for any organization, it’s invaluable in the healthcare sector. Medical facilities and businesses manage immense loads of sensitive patient data every day. Losing this information through security breaches or data loss puts patients and doctors alike in danger. Furthermore, a security breach can ruin the reputation of your facility and make you unable to help patients to the best of your ability.

How can healthcare organizations better protect their data, employees, and patients? The answer lies in Azure Security and expert managed service providers. Discover the importance of Azure Security management for healthcare data with this overview.

Preserving Your Most Sensitive Data

Healthcare businesses and providers must prioritize data security. Patient data can include incredibly sensitive personal information, including names, addresses, and Social Security numbers. On top of that, patient records usually hold payment information. This kind of information is perfect for anyone wanting to commit identity theft or similar crimes. As such, healthcare facilities are prime targets for hackers. This makes a reliable security system like Azure Security more important than ever.

Healthcare facilities face attacks from hackers, viruses, phishing schemes, and more. Additionally, outdated software—which is common in older or smaller facilities—creates vulnerabilities in an organization’s operating system. These risk factors make it more difficult for healthcare providers to protect themselves and their patients, which in turn makes it harder for doctors, nurses, and other professionals to accomplish their important work.

Complying With All Regulations

Healthcare facilities aren’t alone when it comes to figuring out proper security measures. Because of the important work they do, medical facilities face fierce regulations regarding data security. As such, healthcare organizations must follow industry standards, national regulations, and other compliance guidelines.

This is another benefit of turning to Azure Security for help in creating your cybersecurity systems. Microsoft has immense experience in building comprehensive and effective security systems. Azure includes over 90 compliance offerings—such as the ones below—to help you build a strong defense that meets all the needs of your healthcare organization.

HIPAA

The United States enforces the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) for all medical providers and their patients. HIPAA presents guidelines for the use, management, and safeguarding of Protected Health Information (PHI). Any organization that has access to PHI must adhere to these guidelines.

To be HIPAA compliant, healthcare organizations must ensure that all of their business associates—including cloud providers or security management teams—also follow these guidelines. By using Azure Security, healthcare businesses know that their security systems follow HIPAA guidelines and offer the best information security for patients. When healthcare organizations take steps to meet HIPAA standards, patients know that their medical histories, financial information, and personal data are safe and secure.

HITECH

The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) was part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. HITECH aimed to help more healthcare providers make the switch to electronic recordkeeping, which in turn improved security for these organizations. HITECH introduced financial incentives for facilities that adopted electronic health records. It also increased the penalties for HIPAA violations. Eventually, lawmakers incorporated the HITECH requirements into HIPAA’s Final Omnibus Rule. This created overarching legislation that helped ensure safe, secure, and efficient electronic recordkeeping across the healthcare industry.

PCI-DSS

While health information is important, financial data is just as sensitive. That’s why the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI-DSS) are so important for healthcare organizations. PCI-DSS isn’t solely a healthcare standard; it applies to businesses across any and all industries. Any organization that accesses, processes, stores, or otherwise manages cardholder data must comply with PCI-DSS. These requirements put forth guidelines that help healthcare facilities and all other businesses keep financial information secure. With online payment processing and electronic data storage, it’s more important than ever for businesses to make sure their cardholder data stays secure. By adhering to PCI-DSS, healthcare organizations make a promise to handle cardholder data carefully and responsibly.

Improve Efficiency With Loss Prevention

Another example of the importance of Azure Security management for healthcare data is disaster recovery and data loss prevention. Even if something goes wrong, reliable Azure Security management helps you minimize the damage and get back on your feet sooner. Because healthcare facilities handle such sensitive and crucial information, data protection and recovery should be a priority when things go wrong. Practices like automated data backups and speedy disaster recovery help minimize damage if you ever suffer a security breach.

Data protection in the event of a cyberattack is a crucial practice in the healthcare industry. Losing valuable information—either through theft or corruption—puts patients at risk of identity fraud and other dangers. It also slows down your own healthcare practices. Data loss prevents your employees from accessing the information they need and collaborating quickly across departments. This makes patient care, treatment, and customer service much more difficult.

Serve Patients With Confidence

Secure data is accessible data. Accessible data lets your teams do their work to the best of their ability. When healthcare providers can access the information they need when they need it through fast and intuitive systems, they can focus less on managing data and more on treating their patients. Azure Security management helps facilities set up reliable and efficient systems for their employees to use. This takes away the stress of worrying about security breaches or data loss, allowing employees to put their energy where it matters most: helping the patients that walk through your door.

Rely on the Experts To Keep Your Facility Safe

You and your employees perform invaluable work every day. The last thing you need is to waste your time and energy on data security for your facility. Keeping an in-house data management and security team exhausts resources. Instead, you can turn to an Azure partner who knows the Azure Security system inside and out. Atmosera offers a team of experts who can guide your organization through Microsoft Azure Security services to build compliant and reliable defenses. When you turn to an expert Azure Security management team like Atmosera, you let us provide your cybersecurity systems so that you can provide the treatment and care your patients need.