By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    medicine cabinet
    The Effect Of Finished Dosage Form Manufacturing In New Drugs
    July 5, 2022
    Improved Digestion
    Five tips to boost digestion and metabolism
    November 4, 2022
    health insurance for young adults
    Benefits of Buying Health Insurance for Your Adults
    January 12, 2023
    Latest News
    7 Most Common Healthcare Accreditation Programs: Which Should You Use?
    August 20, 2025
    Hospital Pest Control and the Fight Against Superbugs
    August 20, 2025
    Hygiene Beyond The Clinic: Attention To Overlooked Non-Clinical Spaces
    August 13, 2025
    5 Steps to a Promising Career as a Healthcare Administrator
    August 3, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    CMS Reports on Provider Performance
    June 7, 2011
    Sweet!! The Secret Branding of Sugar Substitutes
    February 22, 2012
    Everything We Are Doing in Health Policy May Be Completely Wrong
    July 26, 2011
    Latest News
    How Social Security Disability Shapes Access to Care and Everyday Health
    August 22, 2025
    How a DUI Lawyer Can Help When Your Future Health Feels Uncertain
    August 22, 2025
    How One Fall Can Lead to a Long Road of Medical Complications
    August 22, 2025
    How IT and Marketing Teams Can Collaborate to Protect Patient Trust
    July 17, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Protect Patient Information: Teaching Healthcare Employees about Phishing Scams
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > eHealth > Medical Records > Protect Patient Information: Teaching Healthcare Employees about Phishing Scams
eHealthMedical RecordsTechnology

Protect Patient Information: Teaching Healthcare Employees about Phishing Scams

Sarah Daren
Sarah Daren
Share
5 Min Read
SHARE

Healthcare facilities and insurance companies have started moving most paper patient records to electronic databases. These digital records are allowing information to move faster and easier between doctors. Yet, electronic files also have a great risk of being hacked. For example, nine million patient health records were breached in 2014 alone. These breaches included patients? names, birth dates, social security numbers, addresses, phone numbers and employment information.

Contents
  • Training workshops
  • Create complex passwords
  • Restrict Internet access
  • Encrypt sensitive information

Hackers try to use a variety of methods to access private information. The attack used most often is called a phishing scam. This method sends an email to thousands of employees with a corrupted link or attachment, and only one employee has to open the email for hackers to gain access to all the data information on private servers. The easiest way to combat these attacks is through employee education, and to help with this, below we’ll go through four ways that hospitals can further protect patient information by helping employees avoid phishing scams.

Training workshops

Ongoing employee workshops can help train staff on what to look for in phishing emails. Training is becoming especially important due to scams becoming more complex, with hackers spending more time to make their websites and logos look authentic. Employees should also be aware of spear-phishing attacks which are a more sophisticated scam. Within these scams, hackers will do extensive research on the intended target. They are able to provide details about the company or employee that makes the email seem more legitimate. After training, facilities should practice by performing phishing attempts against their own staff. This will allow executives to see how staff handle corrupted emails and show who needs additional work recognizing phishing scams.

Create complex passwords

Another way healthcare facilities can prevent hackers from obtaining private information is to write a security policy requiring employees to create complex passwords that include a mix of capital letters, numbers and special characters. Additionally, employees should not be allowed to use the same password for multiple logins. Their passwords should expire every six months to keep information secure. This is important because once a hacker obtains your password, it is easier for them to guess your next password, as shown by a 2010 study where researchers that knew the user?s previous password were able to uncover the next password in fewer than five guesses.

More Read

medicare part d benefits
Everything that You Need to Know About Medicare Part D
Demand For SLP Services Grows, Turns To High Tech Training
Excelimmune Optimizes the Natural Power of the Immune System
Predicting Cardiac Arrest 24 Hours Before it Happens
Mobile Health Around the Globe: Operation Smile India Launches mHealth Application in Assam

Restrict Internet access

Healthcare facilities should construct a policy on Internet browsing during work hours. At times, careless web browsing can increase the chance of employees falling for a phishing scheme. Another way to keep employees safe from phishing scams is to install a web filter. This filter would deny access to fake websites and blocks downloading files types associated with malware. Examples of these fraudulent websites may include those that don?t use https or begin with an IP address are fraudulent. If employees come across these sites, they should report them to IT staff immediately who can block access to them and keep information protected.

Encrypt sensitive information

While providers can?t prevent employees from falling for every phishing scam, they can still keep sensitive patient information safe. Healthcare facilities can keep private patient information out of hackers hands by using data encryption when the information is stored locally and when it is sent from one device to another. Data encryption will allow only staff with the proper ?key? to be able to read the information. Some mobile devices come with encryption software already built-in. If that isn’t the case, additional encryption tools can be installed to keep it more secure. Mobile devices also allow remote disabling and wiping software to be installed. All data can be erased from a device if an employee becomes aware of a phishing scam.Healthcare phishing scams are not going to end anytime soon. In fact, it?s likely that phishing scams will become more sophisticated as security measures increases. This is why it?s imperative for employees to have updated training on phishing scams. With proper crisis management training, healthcare employees can help stop data breaches that include private patient information by staying educated on preventative measures. Meanwhile, healthcare facilities should continue to improve their online security and encryption processes to stop hackers from obtaining sensitive information.

TAGGED:Patient InformationPhishing Scams
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

engineer fitting prosthetic arm
How Social Security Disability Shapes Access to Care and Everyday Health
Health care
August 20, 2025
a woman explaining the document
How a DUI Lawyer Can Help When Your Future Health Feels Uncertain
Public Health
August 20, 2025
physiotherapist at work
How One Fall Can Lead to a Long Road of Medical Complications
Health care
August 20, 2025
Common Healthcare Accreditation Programs
7 Most Common Healthcare Accreditation Programs: Which Should You Use?
Health News
August 20, 2025

You Might also Like

Create Engaging Content For Your Hospital

June 14, 2013
telemedicine
eHealthMobile HealthTechnology

Why the Pros Outweigh the Cons in Telemedicine

May 22, 2014
Medical InnovationsNews

Emmy-Winning Daytime Series, THE DOCTORS, To Reveal Results of a New Surgical Procedure for Parkinson’s Disease.

May 2, 2012

Getting Young Invincibles to Buy Health Insurance?

March 16, 2014
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?