PRA Newsletter | Second Quarter | Issue II | April 3, 2018
Safely Spring Into the Digital Age
As the healthcare industry and technology continue to come together, it is important for physicians to stay in-the-know on the changing landscape of their field.
Whether your practice is venturing into telemedicine, concerned about your cyber liablity, or looking to maintain patient safety in this evolving era, we have the answers for you!
Read on to learn more and, as always, stay informed with the latest on Professional Risk and the medical community by following us on; Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn!
Telemedicine:
The New Frontier of Physician-to-Paitent Communication
Telemedicine is rapidly expanding throughout the medical field; whether it's an interactive video or exchanging photos via email, the way healthcare professionals interact with their patients is maturing.
This method of medicine is revolutionizing how physicians conduct their practices, however, the conveniences are accompanied with new legal considerations; including that of informed consent. Click here to learn more about the affects of telemedicine on this process.
To learn more about the entire process of telemedicine, click on the featured photo above to view ProAssurance's Telemedicine & Professional Liability webinar series.
Cyber Secruity
Not If buT When
As medicine and technology continue to merge, practices face the ever growing risk of a cyberattack. Roughly 85% of practices have reported that their office has already suffered some form of attack, and with the costs associated witha breach being as much as $217 per patient record, this is a costly liability.
For instance, on January 18th of this year Allscripts suffered a major ransomware attack that affected two of its data centers and left their systems down for a week. This resulted in temporary practice closures, crippling financial losses, and the company is now facing a lawsuit. With such large potential losses, it is vital that healthcare professionals be aware of this risk, educate themselves on how to combat it, and ensure that they're practice has the proper coverage in the event of an attack. The three key cyberattack trends we're anticipating for 2018 include:
Hackers are relying less on end-user mistakes
Organizations' admin tools are being used against them
Attacks are designed to propogate
Learn more about these trends and how to prepare for them here.
Patient Safety
Improving with Tech
While technology can sometimes increase a practice's liability, it is still an invaluabe tool in imporving healthcare overall. This past month the healthcare community celebrated patient safety, which is just one area that has been vastly improved upon with the integration of technology. Click on the featured picture to learn more about improved patient safety.