Seemingly Small Technology Changes Can Have Profound Impact on Patient Care

Technology helps us address life’s biggest challenges every day, including how we deliver and improve healthcare.  Health IT systems that incorporate electronic prescribing and electronic medical records capabilities allow physicians to reduce overhead and focus on patient care, empower patients to take a more active role in their care, and better track and integrate information to reduce patient risk.

However, technology also poses one of the biggest threats to healthcare: data breaches.  According to the Identity Theft Research Center, 91% of healthcare organizations have reported a data breach in the last two years.  The major data breach disclosed by Anthem this May and the one at UCLA Health System discovered in July are two of the most recent and prominent examples.  These breaches not only give attackers access to a whole slew of personal patient information, but also can cause mixing of medical records that eventually may lead to fatal mistakes.

Given the frequency and sophistication of attempted cyberattacks and the consequences of success, the healthcare industry must make tightening the overall security framework of their systems a top priority. 

Building multifactor authentication into health IT systems represents a seemingly small technology change that can have profound impacts on patient privacy, security, and care itself.

At Exostar, we deliver a simple multifactor authentication solution that can be deployed quickly and painlessly, yet solves a pressing industry challenge faced by providers, administrators, and patients alike.  We provide a seamless security layer that ensures only authorized users can access health IT systems and only authorized parties can view sensitive medical data.

Our cloud-based, multifactor authentication solution has been integrated with health IT system platforms of all sizes and complexities.  As a result, hundreds of thousands of providers have the option to leverage electronic prescribing functionality to securely and compliantly electronically prescribe controlled substances (EPCS).  With virtually no impact to the user experience, this technology upgrade is helping keep patient data private, reduce drug diversion, and support the ever-expanding federal and state standards and guidelines to ensure physicians and patients are best protected.