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    About the Author

    John Pinkham

    John Pinkham

    John Pinkham is the Sr. Director, Strategic Alliance Partners & Sales Enablement at CyberMaxx. John joined CyberMaxx in 2023 and brings over a decade of experience in building and executing go-to-market strategies. Prior to CyberMaxx, John was the Marketing Team Lead at Threat Stack, where he supported the company through the successful acquisition by F5. Prior to that, John has held go-to-market strategy and leadership positions at Soroco, IBM, and Resilient Systems. John holds a Marketing degree from Marquette University and a MBA from Boston University. Check out John's LinkedIn

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    Managed Detection and Response (MDR) is when an organization outsources some of its security operations to a third party. MDR is becoming increasingly necessary in the healthcare industry as hackers continue to use ever-more sophisticated techniques to steal insurance information, commit fraud, and access medical equipment and healthcare services.

    CyberMaxx offers MDR services to help organizations assess, monitor, and manage cyber risks. It has helped several healthcare organizations — including AccentCare, a national leader in home health, personal care, and hospice care — effectively balance security and operational efficiency. This strategy ultimately helps to improve organizational performance and patient care.

    Importance of Balance in MDR

    Balance is essential in MDR. While security measures that are too lax can make it easy for bad actors to access sensitive information and wreak havoc, it is also vital that these measures are not so stringent that they lock out the people who need to access this information so that they can provide an adequate standard of care.

    Making vital information more difficult to access introduces unnecessary friction. It can prolong the time it takes for healthcare professionals to obtain necessary information and compromise the accuracy and efficiency of their decisions. This can lead to misdiagnoses, delays in treatment, or inappropriate interventions, all of which can have a negative impact on patient health outcomes.

    Balancing security and operational efficiency significantly decreases the likelihood of costly data breaches while ensuring that patient care can carry on as normal and maintains a high standard of care. While getting this balance right can be difficult, it is worth it.

    Strategies for Balancing Security and Operational Efficiency

    Organizations should implement proactive and reactive security measures to balance security and operational efficiency.

    Proactive security measures are designed to identify and address potential security threats. For example, this may include conducting regular risk assessments within the organization. Reactive security measures focus on building an organization’s defenses and working to discover whether they have already been breached. For example, this may include reactive incident response planning.

    Organizations should leverage technology such as advanced analytics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning solutions to optimize these strategies. However, simply implementing these solutions is not enough. They should also schedule regular employee training and awareness programs to ensure employees understand the importance of using this technology and implementing these security measures.

    Managers should review and update security policies and procedures to ensure they are current. Routine reviews of policies and procedures ensure their relevance and effectiveness in addressing current challenges. Managers should also actively encourage feedback from staff, who often have critical insights into potential vulnerabilities and operational challenges.

    Advice for Healthcare Organizations

    Healthcare organizations are prime targets for cyber threats because they handle vast amounts of personal data and often use outdated electronic health records systems and weak password policies.

    To avoid becoming a target, healthcare organizations should work to continuously improve their cybersecurity measures so they can stay protected against advancing threats. One of the key ways to do this is to invest in the right technologies and training.

    MDR services can be customized to fit the needs of healthcare organizations looking to achieve balance and improve operational performance and patient care. Healthcare organization AccentCare works closely with CyberMaxx to set and work toward cybersecurity goals. AccentCare describes CyberMaxx as its “24/7 eyes and ears” because it helps the company to remain secure due to frequent monitoring, alerting, and proactive investigation.

    Strengthen Your Organization’s Security Posture With Cybermaxx

    The right security measures help to ensure that sensitive patient data, such as insurance information and personal details, is protected from attackers and kept private from third parties. Implementing these measures while keeping operational efficiency in mind helps ensure that information is easily accessible to those who need it so that patient care is not compromised and the organization can run smoothly.

    To enable this balance, consider outsourcing cybersecurity to third-party experts by optimizing their MDR services. Learn more about how CyberMaxx can help balance your healthcare organization’s security and operational efficiency.