Small providers lack the workforce and financial flexibility to implement best practices.
Small and rural healthcare providers are dangerously unprepared for cyber-attacks due to staffing shortages, outdated infrastructure, and limited funds.
A new report from the U.S. Health Sector Coordinating Council, providers recognise cybersecurity as critical to patient safety, but lack the workforce and financial flexibility to implement best practices.
According to Industrial Cyber, the council urges sustained government support through reimbursement incentives, public-private partnerships, and deployment of trained cybersecurity personnel. It also advocates for subsidised access to managed security services, expansion of rural loan programs, and participation in nonprofit health IT collaboratives.
Co-lead Jim Roeder of Lakewood Health stressed: “Cybersecurity is not just an IT issue; it is a patient safety issue.”
Written by
Dan Raywood is a B2B journalist with 25 years of experience, including covering cybersecurity for the past 17 years. He has extensively covered topics from Advanced Persistent Threats and nation-state hackers to major data breaches and regulatory changes.
He has spoken at events including 44CON, Infosecurity Europe, RANT Forum, BSides Scotland, Steelcon and the National Cyber Security Show, and served as editor of SC Media UK, Infosecurity Magazine and IT Security Guru. He was also an analyst with 451 Research and a product marketing lead at Tenable.
