Medical Device Security: A Healthcare Delivery Organization Perspective on ROI

The Michigan Healthcare Cybersecurity Council (MHCC) recently partnered with the Ponemon Institute to publish the Managing Healthcare Risk in a Networked World survey. One key finding of the survey was that the security threat of greatest concern to healthcare delivery organizations (HDOs) is “unsecure medical devices.” As this article will explore, one of the key factors of an HDO establishing a medical device program—which is essential to addressing potential threats to cybersecurity—is the return on investment (ROI) of such a program.

The medical device security program must be aligned with traditional confidentiality, integrity, and availability cybersecurity objectives but requires additional patient care and safety considerations throughout the device life cycle at the HDO. Ultimately, the program should be designed to reduce negative impacts to the delivery of care and to avoid the loss of sensitive health information.