Employees play a crucial role in protecting patient data

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

Although healthcare institutions know they must protect and secure patient data, it often ends up being compromised. This is revealed in a study conducted by consulting firm PBLQ, commissioned by Minister Schippers of Health. The recent digitization of patient data poses a serious threat to privacy. Employees often do not know how to handle this digital data, resulting in increasingly frequent data breaches. But how can healthcare institutions prevent employees from (unintentionally) leaking patient data?

In October, the medical records of hundreds of patients from Isala Hospital in Zwolle were compromised when a private laptop belonging to a medical intern was stolen. Although privacy rules state that she should not have had this information on her laptop, she was unaware of this.

Protect patient data through daily training However, employees are often unaware of their role in information security. The legislation is often so complex that the majority of staff do not know how to apply it in practice. An annual course is unfortunately not enough to provide employees with the necessary knowledge. Studies show that without repetition, employees forget 90 percent of the acquired knowledge within a month. It is therefore important to impart knowledge (preferably daily!).

Netpresenter takes care of your patient data With the help of Netpresenter, you can repeatedly bring small pieces of legislation and regulations to the attention of your staff. Not through a printed A4 sheet on a bulletin board in the cafeteria, but daily through various digital channels. This way, do’s and don’ts regarding the protection of patient data are automatically displayed. For example, on large television screens at the nursing desk, an interactive screensaver on every computer, or even on every mobile device. This ensures that everyone, even those without a fixed workstation, sees this useful information. And all this without constantly interrupting them.

If a data breach does occur, you even have the option to notify employees through the same channels using a warning message.

Do you want to make your healthcare organization more secure? Feel free to contact us or request a free demo. Or download our free checklist on cybersecurity.