How Your Health Care Facility Can Survive a Security Breach

– Contributed content –

(Darko Stojanovic, Pixabay)

21 Feb. 2019. Information leaks are bad news in any business. They’re a sure way to lose customer trust and throw your reputation into disrepute. And, that’s when the worst information you’re leaking is customer emails. When it comes to health care, many patients say that info leaks like these are unforgivable. When your private medical history gets into the wrong hands, it can be more than a little unsettling. It can feel like the worst violation. And, it all happened in the hands of your company.

But, we’re here to tell you that a breach doesn’t need to spell the end of your health care facility altogether. In an ideal world, of course, an incident like this would never happen. The fact that it has actually leaves you on the wrong side of the law. But, once you’ve paid your fines and done your due, there’s no reason you can’t build yourself back up. All you need to do to make it happen is take care of the following.

Make it up to the people involved

First, remember that paying your legal fine doesn’t make up for what happened. You still need to make an effort to address the people affected. It was their details you let loose, after all, and it’s them you need to work hardest on. Of course, accountability is always tricky in instances like these. The temptation is not to apologize to keep your hands clean. But, that’s never going to help you get going again. Remember, too, that you’ve already paid your dues. There’s nothing to lose by saying sorry or offering compensation to the injured parties. There is, however, a whole load to lose by ignoring them.

Provide proof that things have changed

Of course, no one’s going to rely on your services now unless you can prove that things have changed. As always in business, your best way of doing this is to provide certification in your favor. Being able to prove things like your SOC 2 compliance can make a huge difference to the way customers approach you. Displaying reports like these clearly at your front desk and on your website can work in your favor. That way, future clients can rest easy that you’re doing what you can. Speaking of which, you also need to…

Make sure it never happens again

Once bitten, twice shy. While it’s possible to crawl back from one security breach, you won’t be able to do the same again. In many ways, you could say that this is your last chance. Far from just getting the certification, you also need to make 100% sure you’re doing everything to avoid repeat breaches. That means going beyond just your legal requirements. You may find, for instance, that online booking reduces the risk of leaked information. You may also want to send your reception team on confidentiality courses. These steps are above and beyond the call of duty, and they’re sure to see you back at the top in no time.

Editor’s note: The opinions in this post are the contributor’s and not those of Science & Enterprise.

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