Throughout 2021, the American healthcare systems have experienced and fought a record number of cyberattacks. Healthcare software solutions and databases deal with sensitive healthcare data that need superior protection from these vicious attackers. Data phishing being the primary act of the cyberattack, you must know how to keep your systems from being compromised. While several attacks have been on the entire functional workflow of the hospitals, some attackers have specifically targeted database-related systems like provider credentialing software.
Provider credentialing software systems have seen growing popularity among healthcare systems of different scales. Did you know that credentialing staff and independent physicians need to spend at least 35 hours on administrative work for every five payer applications? When done manually, 85% of these applications end up being incomplete. Provider credentialing software stores and updates the required data according to the different needs of the separate payer forms. However, keeping the digital repository of a significant load of sensitive data makes such software easy targets for phishing attackers. Here is how to protect your provider credentialing software from attacks and keep your data safe.
Update your Provider Credentialing Software
- Provider credentialing software, like any other web tool, needs frequent upgrades. Depending on the communication system, you will receive notice of upgrades from the parent company.
- Researchers design these upgrades to protect the system from potential attacks or strengthen the existing security system by closing the few open spaces.
- The issue occurs when the hosting management delays the upgrade, due to which the entire database comes under the risk of a phishing plot.
- The upgrade cycle delay serves as an opportunity for the cyber attackers to breach the security and hack the system.
- Get in touch with your customer manager from the software provider team to know when and how to upgrade your monitoring systems to avoid security issues.
Secure Document Transfers
- Document transfers are often the typical entry points for cyberattacks in a database tool. Since provider credentialing requires several documents to be shared among multiple stakeholders, it is a crucial parameter that you should note.
- Several leading provider credentialing tools in the market allow you to share the different documents on the same secure ecosystem of the software itself.
- It is often considered to be one of the best techniques to share your file since the encryption allows only the intended user to open and comprehend it.
- However, many healthcare systems still use emails as a way to communicate and share their sensitive files.
- Mails do not offer any end-to-end encryption, and therefore it is considered to be highly dangerous for the safety of the file. Make sure you are not vulnerable to cyber-attacks while letting your guard down in the emails.
Maintain a Layered Access System
- Provider credentialing software systems keep every stakeholder in the same loop. Be it the healthcare provider, the practice manager, or the revenue cycle manager, these software solutions are excellent at keeping the workflow hassle-free.
- Having every partner on the same platform means handing over access to the software to different users. Make sure that you do not have the same level of access for all.
- It would be best if you structured the need for access according to the various users of the organization. You can then grant the entry as such.
- At the same time, you must have a protocol regarding using different systems for entering the same provider credentialing platform.
- Security gaps in the different computers or networks used by multiple users that are not monitored by the IT security personnel could be detrimental.
Know your Risk
- Every digital feature and advanced technology comes with a unique set of challenges. But the advantages they offer to the organization are several and hence are worthy of taking a risk.
- Due to its massive collection of highly sensitive data, every provider credentialing software system is a possible attacking ground for cybercriminals.
- IT experts with years of experience in protecting healthcare data are of the opinion that it is crucial to get your risk assessment done frequently to know where you stand in terms of your security.
- The methods of attacks or data breaches are evolved every day. So it is important that you keep up with the latest forms of attack before a malicious hacker holds your data ransom.
- Consider outsourcing the risk assessment to a professional team at a leading IT company to know how you can fare well in the long run while keeping your system safe.
Update your Security Protocols
- With the number of cyberattacks happening every year and the increase in the diversity of the attacks, updating your security protocols as frequently as possible is imperative.
- Leading experienced healthcare information technology companies feel that any software solution involving the use of sensitive information, like the provider credentialing tool, should have a 24/7 surveillance system to know of any suspicious activity.
- The monitoring systems will alert the IT team immediately of any possible ransomware or malware attack that might crash the system and steal the data.
- It would be best if you also had a backup plan in place in case an attack occurs which goes beyond the point of recovery.
- Ensure that data is stored in the secure cloud with limited access so that you already have backup storage ready. Keep following the federal guidelines and latest suggestions from the healthcare IT companies to know what you can do further to make your system stronger.
It is advisable to communicate with an experienced healthcare IT company to evaluate your security measures and know how you can improve your existing network.
We hope this blog helped you with some effective ways to protect your provider credentialing software. If you have any queries, you can write them below in the comment section. We will definitely get back to you. For more updates on healthcare management, billing, and technology, please subscribe to our blog. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn to get regular updates on the American medical industry.