The number of cybersecurity attacks on healthcare organizations continue to increase on a yearly basis. The healthcare sector is often targeted by cyber criminals as healthcare providers are more likely to pay ransoms as there is risk to human health. Healthcare organizations are frequently penalized by the HHS’ Office for Civil Rights for cybersecurity vulnerabilities which can result in damaged reputations and the increased risk of patient safety and misuse of patient data. Organizations regularly employ outside consulting firms that specialize in increasing security and data privacy safeguards in order to decrease these risks in healthcare. A report conducted by researchers at KLAS, leading healthcare IT research firm, questioned healthcare professionals about the security and privacy consulting vendors that their organizations employed and how content they were with their relationships, operations, services, and value.
Several vendors were assessed in the report including First Health Advisory, Impact Advisors, Clearwater, CynergisTek, tw-Security, Intraprise Health, Gudiehouse, Fortified Health Security, and Meditology Services. First Health Advisory and Impact Advisors were rated particularly highly by report participants. First Health Advisory was portrayed as a proactive and enthusiastic business partner whose clients use its services for security program development and evaluations as well as IoMT device evaluations. For security and privacy consulting services, Impact Advisors won Best in KLAS in 2022, and all survey participants felt the company went above and above their expectations.
Additionally, medical professionals noted improved leadership participation at Clearwater and CynergisTek. Previously, clients of Clearwater and CynergisTek encountered a drop in executive engagement. However, in this year’s survey, clients of both companies noted higher levels of satisfaction and executive involvement. Clients of tw-Security experienced similar regular executive participation. The largest healthcare business that responded was the least pleased, stating that the company is better suited for smaller enterprises. Intraprise Health and Meditology Services earned the lowest overall ratings among the companies in this high-performing industry. A majority of the respondents to the Intraprise Health survey believe the company falls short of expectations, frequently as a result of the assessment team’s apparent inexperience or lack of direction. A few responders also mention employee turnover and a lack of personnel availability.
Ultimately, depending on the size of the company, the engagement of the leadership team, and the ROI, clients of all companies had diverse experiences. Strong vendor relationships are more important than ever as healthcare businesses continue to rely on them for security and privacy.