The Data Challenge:
Every day, we continuously provide our personal information to various companies and organizations. Although there may be creative routes to circumvent revealing those details to institutions within the private sector, it is often mandatory to disclose our most personal details to our healthcare or insurance providers. That information can include financial records, health records, and social security information, all of which become valuable data to that (supposedly) trusted establishment. On the receiving end, healthcare organizations then face what is, perhaps, one of the largest challenges in data protection and compliance.
Healthcare providers and vendors handle some of the most delicate of society’s information including PHI (Protected Health Information), PII (Personally Identifiable Information), payment or financial information, and insurance information. This information is required to be contained and managed in accordance with standards dictated by US Health and Human Services regulatory agencies. However, most mainstream privacy protection can still be penetrated or become susceptible to theft and loss. When you give your personal details to those institutions (or, if you are on the receiving end as a healthcare institution), there should never be any doubt as to the safety and security of the information itself.