What You Should Know:
- Nearly 60% of healthcare providers experienced one or more security breaches and 45% experienced a data breach from an outside source or distributed denial-of-service since 2021, according to a new report from SOTI.
- The annual report, The Technology Lifeline: Charting Digital Progress in Healthcare explores the evolving landscape of healthcare technology adoption, its impact on patient satisfaction and the top security risks that every IT leader should keep top of mind.
Report Background
SOTI surveyed 1,450 healthcare IT professionals across the U.S., Canada, Mexico, UK, Germany, France, Sweden, Netherlands and Australia to gain insight into the evolving landscape of healthcare technology adoption, the impact of increasing technology implementation, the range of devices used and what challenges and security risks remain.
Key findings of the report include:
Security Concerns: Healthcare IT professionals in the U.S. are the most concerned about the security of patient records in their organization, including:
| Patient information revealed/lost/accessed/stolen/not adequately backed up | 87% |
| Financial cost/reputational damage of data breach | 69% |
| No training/device lost/stolen | 45% |
More Money, More Devices, More Problems
57% of organizations increased IT budgets. The greater investment, scale and diversification of devices has led to a 49% increase in the use of a mix of devices (mobile devices, tablets, rugged devices and printers) in their healthcare organization in the past year. An additional 65% of IT professionals also reported an increase in the use of personal devices to access company systems and networks.
Currently, 91% of healthcare IT professionals report their organizations use tablets and laptops, while 86% use smartphones and 73% use printers. However, findings show that tablets and laptops (32%) and smartphones (37%) were not being managed correctly a year ago. The report also found that 26% of printers were not being managed, including for the use of printing prescription labels.
Currently, 91% of healthcare IT professionals report their organizations use tablets and laptops, while 86% use smartphones and 73% use printers. However, findings show that tablets and laptops (32%) and smartphones (37%) were not being managed correctly a year ago. The report also found that 26% of printers were not being managed, including for the use of printing prescription labels.
Eliminating Outdated Processes and Legacy Technology
Concerns around the impact of outdated or legacy technologies extend, with 47% of healthcare IT workers believing legacy IT devices and systems expose their networks to security attacks. In addition to security vulnerabilities, respondents also believe legacy devices can hinder day-to-day operations by:
- Being unable to detect new devices connected to system/makes network vulnerable: 54%
- Too much time fixing issues/not enough to work on essential IT issues: 53%
- Being unable to detect new devices/support devices remotely/get detailed info on device usage: 49%
- An inability to support devices remotely/get detailed info on device usage: 41%
- Can’t deploy and manage devices/support remotely: 32%
Furthermore, IT professionals state the following manual processes used in healthcare organizations would benefit greatly from being automated:
| Collecting data during patient visits | 54% |
| Accessing and updating patient records | 53% |
| Recording information for administrative purposes (including incident reporting) | 52% |
| Accessing test results | 50% |
| Accessing general medical information/resources | 49% |
SOTI also found that 95% of IT professionals are prioritizing the usage of new technologies to improve patient care, with 86% implementing and researching Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Virtual Reality (VR).