When we talk about security, what we’re generally talking about is protecting assets with a financial value. While this kind of security is important, it pales in comparison to the human lives that are at stake in the healthcare sector.
As a result, the stakes of getting security right in the healthcare sector are far higher compared to a lot of other industries. We’ve broken down some of the main issues in this article, to help you with your approach to healthcare security.
An important yet often overlooked aspect of security in healthcare settings lies in data security. As a healthcare provider, you will likely be in control of a lot of highly sensitive personal information related to your patients, and it’s crucial that you protect this data in line with GDPR and other regulatory structures.
This means taking both digital security seriously, and having adequate access controls in place for physical documents. Getting your data security approach just right will take some time, and you may need to consult data security experts for some assistance along the way.
Another key topic of concern is controlling who has access to healthcare facilities. Many of these places will be full of incredibly vulnerable people, and it’s imperative that healthcare providers are able to protect them while under their duty of care.
It’s important to have an advanced security solution in place that makes it possible to control who has access to various locations in the healthcare facility. These solutions are not easy to implement, and will require ongoing tweaking to ensure their efficacy.
There are also a number of substances and forms of biowaste that need to be protected in healthcare facilities. Whether that’s keeping track of dangerous medicines or using secure bio waste containers, these are not security issues that you can afford to overlook.
In most cases, these security solutions are not just an optional extra. It’s generally a legal responsibility to use solutions like key lockers from Traka, to ensure that it’s possible to both manage and track who has access to things like medicine cabinets and other controlled spaces.
Lastly, it’s important that all of your security solutions leave you in a state of audit readiness. The healthcare sector is subject to a number of strict regulations, and you need to be able to prove compliance at the drop of a hat.
Choosing solutions that automatically leave a clearly traceable paper trail is important. Not only will it substantially ease the administrative burden, but it will also make it far more likely that you’re able to prove security compliance at all times.
Getting your approach to security in the healthcare sector just right is no mean feat. It requires diligence at all times, combined with the adoption of the best security solutions available to you. It’s worth regularly auditing your current approach, to ensure that you’re being as efficient as possible in your security strategy.