Why You Need MFT for Healthcare Cybersecurity | Articles | Chief Technology Officer | Innovation Enterprise

The cost of data breaches is skyrocketing, and
cybersecurity is of particular concern for the health care industry due to the
large amount of sensitive patient information that’s being collected,
processed, and stored.

A data breach can be very costly for a health care company or
provider — the average cost of a breach in the industry is
$429
per record
. Not only will you incur immediate costs and hefty penalties
for failing to comply with HIPAA guidelines but you’ll also suffer from a
tarnished reputation and the loss of patients or customers, which will impact
your profitability in the long-run.

Since a health care business or practice needs to handle and
transfer a lot of sensitive digital files containing protected health
information (PHI), its IT infrastructure must adhere to the
HIPAA
Security Rule
to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability
of PHI.

As such, your file transfer protocol needs to comply with
HIPAA’s guidelines, too.

HIPAA
Guidelines

When you transfer data and files
that contain PHI, you need to adhere to these best practices:

Implementing all the security measures can pose a
strain on the IT resources in many health care practices. The good news is that
you can use a managed file transfer (MFT) solution to help ensure that your
file transfer processes are HIPAA compliant without a high added cost.

Managed
File Transfer (MFT) Can Help

An
MFT
solution is designed to meet HIPAA requirements
regarding
all aspects of inbound and outbound file transfers through the use of
industry-standard file transfer protocols (e.g., SFTP and FTPS) and encryption
standards (e.g., Open PGP).

It’s the most cost-efficient way to ensure that PHI remains
secure when files are transferred within your organization or shared with
external partners and vendors.

Here are 10 reasons why you should
use MFT software for your healthcare business:

1.
MFT allows you to consolidate all file-transfer
activities onto a single interface.
You can streamline workflows while
maintaining visibility into data movement through centralized access control,
file encryption, and activity tracking.

2.
MFT
provides you with detailed audit logs
so you can meet HIPAA reporting
requirements, which mandate that every IT asset be audited at least once per
year.

3.
MFT offers
automated reporting of tasks, procedures, and file-transfer activities
so you can
consolidate and streamline compliance reporting and audit preparation without
compromising accuracy.

4.
MFT allows
you to automate workflows, process batch transfers, and schedule future
transfers
without creating scripts to increase efficiency while
eliminating costly errors and delays.

5.
MFT helps
you improve operational reliability and comply with internal SLAs and
governance requirements.
You can ensure data integrity by tracking transfer
activities of each file to make sure there’s no unauthorized alteration or
deletion.

6.
MFTreduces
the development time required
for launching new services or
setting up collaboration with new partners without compromising your security
standards.

7.
MFT gives
you extensive security controls, such as the ability to set password policies
and authenticate users with LDAP, AD, and more.
You can
block brute-force and DOS attacks, create SSL certificates, and use SSH/OpenPGP
keys to enhance IT security.

8.
MFT allows
you to set role-based access control, which helps ensure that each
employee can only view the files they need to do their jobs.

9.
MFT enables
the monitoring of new, modified, or deleted files
in any
targeted folder so workflows can be executed automatically when changes are
detected. You can run projects concurrently while minimizing bottlenecks and
delays.

10.
MFT supports industry-standard file servers, such as
FTPS, SFTP, and AS2, for inbound file transfers from customers, external
partners, and employees, so you can safely share PHI with minimal security
risks.

The fast-evolving digital landscape means it’s not always
easy to keep up with the many security protocols. However, the ability to
transfer files and share sensitive information securely is essential for any health care business.

Thankfully, with the help of MFT software, you don’t have to
reinvent the wheel. The cost-efficient solution will not only help you stay
HIPAA compliant but also allow you to streamline your workflow, reduce your IT
cost, and improve your profitability.