using enterprise mobility management (EMM) for healthcare data security

Enterprise mobility management (EMM) is vital to healthcare data security as more organizations adopt mobile strategies.

Healthcare is going mobile and clinicians are utilizing more advanced devices as they cut their cords. But as staff members move around more freely, how can providers ensure that their patients’ protected health information (PHI) stays secure?

Protecting those devices – and the data they access – through secure enterprise mobility management tools (EMM) is becoming an increasingly important strategy for organizations.

Enterprise mobility management has matured over the past several years as organizations realize the risks associated with mobile devices, particularly with mobile applications accessing electronic health records and PHI. As security risks surrounding these datasets increase, provider organizations must keep pace with evolving threats.

Healthcare mobility environments are increasingly complex as employees use their own devices to access PHI. Unsecure user devices brought in under BYOD policies and proprietary third party apps leave security holes that hackers will use to bypass network security.

“The healthcare industry is highly targeted from a security perspective,” Travelers VP Chief Underwriting Officer Mike Thoma told HITInfrastructure.com. “The value of healthcare records is so high because there is so much information that can be gleaned from a healthcare record. Addresses, SSNs, payment methods, insurance information as well as the health information of the individual.”

When users access healthcare data on an unsecured device, they are committing a HIPAA violation. An unsecured mobile device that is lost or stolen with PHI on it is a massive security risk to the healthcare organization, and can result in significant fines and a damaged reputation.

Implementing a complete EMM solution is not easy. Some of the top challenges organizations face when deploying and upgrading an EMM solution include the scope and depth of the deployment. EMM solutions need to cover a high volume of devices as well as keep track of information on the device.

IT departments must have a strong mobile management strategy in place not only to ensure that all apps are running correctly, but also to detect abnormal behavior that could be a sign of a potential attack.

To stay on top of the latest exterior and insider threats, healthcare organizations must understand how to deploy a secure yet unobtrusive enterprise mobility management solution.

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