Instructions
Read this article from The Harvard Business Review reports that researchers in Belgium and the United Kingdom have demonstrated that it is possible to transmit life-threatening, and possibly fatal, signals to implanted medical devices. The list includes devices such as pacemakers, defibrillators, and insulin pumps. Malware has also been found in software devices such as x-ray machines and blood gas analyzers. A nursing inventory supply system was also found to have a vulnerability that could negatively impact patient care and safety and provide back door access to the organization’s wider information system. Quality Hospital now wants to set up a Task Force to address these issues.
Answer the following questions:
- One of the HCIC Task Force imperatives is to “increase the security and resilience of medical devices and health IT.” Who should be involved in this initiative at Quality Hospital?
- Another of the HCIC Task Force imperatives is to “increase health care industry readiness through improved cybersecurity awareness and education.” You are the Security Officer at Quality Hospital. How would you achieve this imperative relative to your workforce and the threats posed in this case?
- The HIPAA Security Rule requires that the following be maintained regarding. ePHI: confidentiality, integrity, and availability. In what order would you rank these concepts in terms of which is at greatest to lesser risk when medical devices are infiltrated? Explain your rationale.
- Do you think that risks to patient safety OR information security are greater in this case? Explain your answer.
- The Internet of Things (IoT) describes the relationship and connectivity between the Internet and everyday objects that contain computers that transmit and receive data. As described in this case, medical devices have become part of the IoT. In the interest of patient safety, do you think that medical devices should be removed from the IoT or would that represent a step backward in technological advancements (explain your answer)? Do technological advancements outweigh the risks presented in this case (explain your answer)? Can these risks be overcome (explain your answer)?
Here are two additional articles to read about IoT as it relates to medicine:
https://www.rand.org/blog/rand-review/2021/01/are-we-ready-for-the-internet-of-bodies.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBKUlAy1OFA
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