Survey Says: Patients and Employees Agree – No Privacy, No Go
24 Septembre 2020 - 3:00PM
Business Wire
CynergisTek survey reveals nearly 70 percent of
consumers would cut ties with doctor over unprotected health data;
nearly 60 percent concerned their employers will share personal
health data externally
CynergisTek, a leading cybersecurity firm helping more than
1,000 hospitals navigate emerging security and privacy issues,
today released survey results highlighting growing privacy concerns
among Americans due to COVID-19 with nearly 70 percent citing they
would likely sever healthcare provider ties if they found that
their personal health data was not being properly protected. And as
many employers seek to welcome staff back into physical workplaces,
nearly half (45 percent) of Americans expressed concerns about
keeping personal health information private from their
employer.
“With the enactment of key regulations including CCPA and GDPR,
we are seeing the convergence of security and privacy come to the
forefront at national, state and corporate levels. As healthcare
systems and corporations continue to grapple with data challenges
associated with COVID-19 – whether that’s more sophisticated,
targeted cyber-attacks or the new requirements around
interoperability and data sharing, concerns around personal data
and consumer awareness of privacy rights will only continue to
grow,” said Caleb Barlow, president and CEO of CynergisTek.
Patients Contemplate Cutting Ties Over Privacy
While many still assume personal data is under lock and key,
roughly 1 in 5 Americans (18 percent) are beginning to question
whether personal health data is being adequately protected by
healthcare providers. In fact, nearly half (47.5 percent) stated
they were unlikely to use telehealth services again should a breach
occur, sounding the alarm for a burgeoning telehealth industry
predicted to be worth over $260B by 2026.
While 3 out of 4 Americans still largely trust their data is
properly protected by their healthcare provider, tolerance is
beginning to wane with the vast majority (67 percent) stating they
would change providers if it was found that their data was not
properly protected. When drilling deeper into certain age groups
and health conditions, the survey also found that:
- Gen X (73 percent) and Millennials (70 percent) proved even
less tolerant compared to other demographics when parting ways with
their providers due to unprotected health data.
- Nearly two-thirds (66 percent) of Americans living with chronic
health conditions stated they would be willing to change up care
providers should their data be compromised.
According to Privacy Affairs, 70 percent of Americans were
impacted by a healthcare data breach between 2009-2019. A real
wake-up call for patients and care providers. In CynergisTek’s
Annual Security Report, Moving Forward: Setting the Direction, data
shows that health systems who have not invested the time, money and
resources to keep pace with the ever-changing threat landscape are
falling behind. Of the nearly 300 healthcare facilities assessed,
less than one half met National Institute of Standards and
Technology (NIST) Cybersecurity Framework guidelines.
Over 1 in 3 Concerned About Sharing COVID-19 Health Data Upon
Returning to Work
As pressures mount for returning employees to disclose COVID-19
health status and personal interactions, an increasing conflict
between ensuring public health safety and upholding employee
privacy is emerging. This is increasingly evident with nearly half
(45 percent) stating a preference to keep personal health
information private from their employer, shining a light on
increased scrutiny among employees with over 1 in 3 expressing
concerns about sharing COVID-19 specific health data, e.g.
temperature checks. This highlights that office openings may prove
more complicated than anticipated.
“The challenges faced by both healthcare providers and employers
during this pandemic have seemed insurmountable at times, but the
battle surrounding personal health data and privacy is a challenge
we must rise to,” said Russell P. Branzell, president and CEO of
the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives. “With
safety and security top of mind for all, it is imperative that
these organizations continue to take the necessary steps to fully
protect this sensitive data from end to end, mitigating any looming
cyberthreats while creating peace of mind for the individual.”
Beyond unwanted employer access to personal data, the survey
found that nearly 60 percent of respondents expressed anxieties
around their employer sharing personal health data externally to
third parties such as insurance companies and employee benefit
providers without consent. A stark contrast to Accenture’s recent
survey which found 62 percent of C-suite executives confirmed they
were exploring new tools to collect employee data. A reminder to
employers to tread lightly when mandating employee health protocols
and questionnaires.
“COVID-19 has thrown many curveballs at both healthcare
providers and employers, and the privacy and protection of critical
patient and employee data must not be ignored,” said David Finn,
executive vice president of strategic innovation of CynergisTek.
“By getting ahead of the curve and implementing system-wide risk
posture assessments and ensuring employee opt-in/opt-out functions
when it comes to sharing personal data, these organizations can
help limit these privacy and security risks.”
Survey Methodology
CynergisTek’s survey was conducted between June 24-26 2020, and
includes 5,005 U.S. adults, ages 18+.
About CynergisTek
CynergisTek is a top-ranked cybersecurity firm dedicated to
serving the information assurance needs of the healthcare industry.
CynergisTek offers specialized services and solutions to help
organizations achieve privacy, security, and compliance goals.
Since 2004, the company has served as a partner to hundreds of
healthcare organizations and is dedicated to supporting and
educating the industry by contributing to relevant industry
associations. The company has been recognized by KLAS as a
top-performing firm in healthcare cybersecurity and was awarded the
2019 Top Healthcare Cybersecurity Consultants in Black Book IT
Advisory Outcomes Survey.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains certain forward-looking statements
relating to the business of CynergisTek that can be identified by
the use of forward-looking terminology such as “believes,”
“expects,” “anticipates,” “may” or similar expressions. Such
forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and
uncertainties, including uncertainties relating to product/service
development, long and uncertain sales cycles, the ability to obtain
or maintain patent or other proprietary intellectual property
protection, market acceptance, future capital requirements,
competition from other providers, the ability of our vendors to
continue supplying the company with equipment, parts, supplies and
services at comparable terms and prices and other factors that may
cause actual results to be materially different from those
described herein as anticipated, believed, estimated or expected.
Certain of these risks and uncertainties are or will be described
in greater detail in our Form 10-K and Form 10-Q filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available at
http://www.sec.gov. CynergisTek is under no obligation (and
expressly disclaims any such obligation) to update or alter its
forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200924005138/en/
Investor Relations Contact: CynergisTek, Inc. Paul Anthon
InvestorRelations@cynergistek.com Media Contact: Allison +
Partners Jaime Tero 415-755-8639 jaime.tero@allisonpr.com
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