Previously submitted to: Journal of Medical Internet Research (no longer under consideration since Dec 24, 2021)
Date Submitted: Sep 9, 2020
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Cybersecurity in healthcare: Comparing cybersecurity maturity and experiences across global healthcare organizations
ABSTRACT
Background:
Health systems around the world are increasingly reliant on digital technology. Such reliance requires that healthcare organizations consider effective cybersecurity and digital resilience as a fundamental component of patient safety, with recent cyberattacks highlighting the risks to patients and targeted organizations.
Objective:
The purpose of this study was to explore the current global cybersecurity landscape and maturity in healthcare.
Methods:
We developed and administered a survey to examine the current cybersecurity landscape and preparedness level across global healthcare organizations.
Results:
Cyber threats were a common concern for the 17 healthcare organizations who participated. The principal concerns highlighted were data security, including the manipulation or loss of electronic health records; loss of trust in the organization; and risks of service disruption. Cybersecurity maturity scoring showed that despite the majority of organizations having established cybersecurity practices, levels of awareness and education were universally poor.
Conclusions:
Policymakers should consider raising awareness and improving education/training on cybersecurity as a fundamental tenet of patient safety.
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Copyright
© The authors. All rights reserved. This is a privileged document currently under peer-review/community review (or an accepted/rejected manuscript). Authors have provided JMIR Publications with an exclusive license to publish this preprint on it's website for review and ahead-of-print citation purposes only. While the final peer-reviewed paper may be licensed under a cc-by license on publication, at this stage authors and publisher expressively prohibit redistribution of this draft paper other than for review purposes.