Healthcare CoE: We Don’t Just Adapt, We Anticipate
Healthcare is changing. At Emerging Tech, we don’t just adapt, we anticipate. We have identified three critical pillars for addressing current and future challenges in the healthcare space.
Medical Device Cybersecurity
In the past, electrocardiograms (ECGs) were printed on paper, and x-rays on radiographic film, security could be achieved with a simple folder and locked file cabinet. But as medical devices have become more advanced and ubiquitous in today’s world, security demands for medical devices have increased exponentially. Unfortunately, solutions have not kept up with demands, and the potential for bad actors to breach medical device security measures continues to pose threats.
At ET, we not only recognize these threats, but we constantly evaluate the landscape at the intersection of medical devices and cybersecurity to prepare for future threats. Imagine that all the infusion pumps at your hospital are hacked, withholding vital medications from some patients and overmedicating others. The results would be catastrophic. By combining the unique skills of our team hailing from the military, medical, cybersecurity and engineering sectors, we can provide your institution the armor needed to protect from such attacks, regardless of whether you are a single-provider practice, or a large national healthcare system.
Medical devices are computational devices, thus they require periodic updates provided by biomedical engineers. Traditionally biomedical engineers have updated medical devices manually providing onsite support; now devices are always ‘on’, connected to the background IT infrastructure. This IT infrastructure has been a necessary improvement in the healthcare sector, helping to increase various capabilities such as asset inventory and remote device updates. While this dramatically improves efficiency, it has also increased the device’s susceptibility to cyberattacks due to the devices always being online. ET brings several domains of expertise, including cybersecurity experts who work in securing and integrating COTS IT products within federal government classified spaces. Under our healthcare cybersecurity CoE, our security experts are transferring these various skills to the healthcare sector.
Securely Deploy & Integrate EMR
Like medical devices, the manner in which patient medical information is obtained, stored, and communicated has made dramatic strides in recent years. Use of Electronic Medical Records (EMR) has allowed providers to not only access large volumes of patient information quickly and efficiently, but to deliver streamlined care in situations previously limited by physical distances. Physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and other key providers can communicate with the simple click of a button to deliver synchronized care. The ability to share patient records through EMR allows providers to exchange necessary information with other providers, while allowing patients to receive cohesive care from providers across various networks.
However, as EMR has become more advanced and adoption more widespread, avenues through which security breaches can occur have also widened. Manipulation of physician orders, pharmacy records or surgical schedules are just a few of the potential breaches that could have dire consequences for patient safety. ET is committed to providing secure solutions to overlay across a wide range of EMR systems to prevent such disastrous attacks. Our consultants are currently working in tandem with Veterans Affairs to securely integrate the largest EMR deployment to date within the United States without sacrificing interoperability or functionality.
Part of our security mantra includes continuous monitoring for known and unknown cybersecurity threats, taking proactive steps to secure your Health IT environments in advance, applying various cybersecurity models such as the Zero Trust Framework.
Revolutionization of Patient Encounters (RoPE)
Unlike much of the technology advances made within healthcare, the patient experience continues to lag in modernization. At ET, we are committed to acting as disrupters, which is why we have established the Revolutionization of Patient Encounters (RoPE) Framework. Constraints of the conventional physician-patient encounter leave patients feeling unheard, misunderstood and devalued. Meanwhile physicians and other providers are often spread thin, spending too much time performing administrative work, and not enough time treating patients.
ET’s RoPE framework proposes enhancing point-of-care by ensuring providers deliver Just-in-Time care, while maintaining personal patient-provider interactions. Using our proprietary strategy in combination with niche emerging technologies, physicians can optimize their time, allowing them to allocate more time for physician-patient engagement. ET’s goal is to eliminate manual administrative processes by automating the patient onboarding and check-in process, thus reducing patient wait times before interacting with clinicians.
Modernizing a Clinical Environment?
Let’s talk about doing it without disrupting care.