Eimer and many healthcare IT leaders across the country have shown great resilience during the pandemic. The measures taken must be reviewed and built so that health systems can be proactive in the event of more crises, whether in the form of a pandemic surge, a cyberattack or a catastrophic weather event.
As healthcare organizations look to improve their IT resilience, they should invest in critical support for their team members, conduct regular tabletop exercises and penetration testing, and develop key partnerships to complement their strategies.
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Empower Your Healthcare IT Team
A strong healthcare organization has teams that work together to support each other and move through difficult times. Leaders who can delegate, recognize talent among team members and build trust across departments can help improve stability throughout the organization.
“Never underestimate the impact you have on people and how they respond to team and organizational needs,” Paul J. Williams, associate vice president of information services infrastructure technology at Penn Medicine, writes in a column for Healthcare IT News
Strong leadership is not about being the only person at the helm, tired and alone. Effective leaders know how to share responsibilities among their team members to create a collaborative ecosystem for action.
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Always Be Prepared In Case Of Emergencies
Tabletop exercises and penetration testing are active drills that healthcare organizations can use to stay agile in the face of cyberthreats. Tabletop exercises provide clarity on the responsibilities and roles needed in an emergency setting. Penetration testing examines and evaluates how effective an organization’s security controls are.
“The tabletop exercises should result in action plans for continuous improvement of the emergency plan. A written evaluation of an exercise provides a guideline for what went well and what areas need attention, and should categorize the outcomes of people, process or technology,” CDW Healthcare wrote. Security Strategist Mike Gregory in a HealthTech Blog.
Pen testing can help uncover any vulnerabilities or misconfigurations before malicious actors do.
“It is critical for healthcare organizations to regularly conduct both tabletop exercises and pen testing to enhance their security posture so they are more familiar with how they will respond to and recover from an emergency within an established which is due,” Gregory wrote.
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