CIOs are the bedrock of an organization’s IT efforts and changes.
But with cyberattacks (the latest being “WannaCry”) looming in the background, what do hospital CIOs really think about data security? And how are their organizations using secure mobile communication methods?
The answers come from a March 2017 survey of more than 100 hospital CIOs, which was designed by Spok and administered by the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives.
As it turns out, the majority of CIOs (95 percent) expressed concern about data from their organization being compromised. Yet about a quarter (26 percent) is unsure of how much protected health information is being shared via non-secure methods.
CIOs clearly want to do something about these problems. That’s why 61 percent of respondents said their hospital penalizes employees who don’t comply with mobile policies.
Even with penalties, there are still myriad barriers that stand in the way and prevent hospitals from taking action to secure data. Fifty-six percent of surveyed CIOs said they see budget and resource constraints as the biggest risk in keeping data safe.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
Despite privacy risks, clinical staff members have to communicate with each other somehow. Encrypted email remains the primary communication method, with 88 percent of CIOs saying their hospital’s staff uses it.
Other key methods of communication include in-building WiFi phones (48 percent) and HIPAA-compliant secure texting (48 percent).
Yet secure texting doesn’t look the same across the board. Thirty-nine percent of respondents said their hospital only has secure texting for personal devices, while 35 percent said their organization utilizes secure texting on hospital-issued devices only. Twenty-six percent said their hospital has secure texting on personal and hospital-issued devices.
Another method of communication among clinical staff members is via encrypted pagers. Seventeen percent of CIOs said their hospitals use this method. What’s the allure? Respondents cited four key reasons: reliability; cost and time savings; simple workflow integration; and they’re the most appropriate device for certain employee groups.
Moving forward, hospitals only expect the prevalence of mobile communication to increase. Sixty-nine percent of CIOs said their hospitals see mobile strategies as a key initiative to improve clinical and operational outcomes. On top of that, 40 percent of respondents are thinking about hiring a consultant within the next year to help with mobile communication strategies.
Hospitals clearly have lofty plans regarding mobile communication, but as the survey notes, “the execution remains a work in progress.” More than 30 percent of clinical staff can’t receive messages from colleagues on mobile devices. And 63 percent of hospital CIOs said their organization doesn’t have a formal way to measure the success of mobile initiatives.
Photo: anilakkus, Getty Images
