By Healthcare Facilities Today

Data breaches and cybersecurity threats in healthcare are going to happen. What can be avoided are the consequences of substandard risk assessment strategies and inadequate threat response, according to an article on the Healthcare IT News website.

Healthcare IT News reported on a recent virtual event at which Department of Homeland Security's Jason Gates, an analyst in the industry, engagement and resilience branch within the Office of Cybersecurity and Communications, spoke about how healthcare organizations can lessen the risk of a cybersecurity attack and work to mitigate the effects if one occurs.

"Risk management never ends," Gates said in the presentation. "New cyber threats, vulnerabilities and consequences require the constant modification of risk management strategy."

This strategy should involve every level of a healthcare organization,including assets, facilities, IT systems, security and legal teams, the article said. 

Some 94 percent of healthcare organizations have reported at least one HIPAA breach, according to a 2012 study from the Ponemon Institute, the article said. Fifty-two percent of those breaches were found during an audit or an assessment, Gates said.

Read the article.