South Africa is poised to start benefiting from a plethora of healthcare technologies.
This could dramatically improve patient care at a lower cost, boost preventative healthcare, and take the best medical practitioners virtually to the most underserved regions of the country.
However, exciting new developments in healthcare technology could also put patients at risk in both the cyber and real world.
ALSO READ: Honda brings power to South African healthcare services
This is according to Fortinet South Africa security experts Doros Hadjizenonos and Matthew Taljaard, who warned that the promise of emerging healthcare technologies could be derailed by security risks.
Hadjizenonos, regional sales director Southern African Development Community at Fortinet, said Internet of Things (IoT) and Internet of Medical Things devices (IoMT) were increasingly being adopted for greater efficiency and improved patient care in the healthcare sector. These tiny, connected devices are being deployed to monitor patient vital signs and treatment, track pharmaceuticals and control medical equipment throughout hospitals.
“We are seeing adoption and interest from private hospital chains locally, who are considering IoT for efficiencies, for managing patients and analysing data. There is potential to deploy IoT for patient monitoring both at home and in hospitals, for example connected beds with oxygen meters and heart rate monitors feeding information back to nurses’ stations. IoT can also be used to automate devices administering treatment, such like ventilators,” he added.
ALSO READ: Can you still get good healthcare for your child without medical aid?
Smart technologies such as smart watches and other wearables, as well as video conferencing and telemedicine also become part of this broader ecosystem, bringing with them the opportunity to make healthcare more accessible, affordable and proactive.
However, Matthew Taljaard, subject matter expert for OT (Operational Technology) at Fortinet, noted that as smart technologies started controlling surgeries and patient treatment, the risks associated with advanced healthcare could grow. “Data privacy and cyber security are already a key concern in healthcare, as healthcare records are a prime target for cyber criminals,” he said.
“Fortinet finds that medical records are worth 10 times more than credit card numbers on the black market. On top of that, as we have seen in the industrial sector, as IT and OT converge, cyber risk can threaten health and safety in the physical domain. This could put patient lives at risk should cyber attackers access physical patient monitoring and treatment systems.
ALSO READ: Send your thanks to our healthcare workers
“Much in the same way we enabled work from home by securing that environment, by properly securing the healthcare environment we can create a safe platform that gives health professionals and patients the confidence to start benefiting from all the advanced medical technologies coming to market.”
Hadjizenonos added, “Healthcare organisations have to start preparing for the future of healthcare by building security into the design of the entire environment. Because it is difficult to build security into small IoT or IoMT devices, technology needs to be deployed to detect and monitor all the devices and secure the traffic following between them. If a device was to be compromised it would be from the network point of view.”
ALSO READ: 10 000 frontline healthcare workers to receive vouchers
