Securing Your Radiology Practice: Evidence-Based Strategies for Radiologists Compiled From 10 Years of Cyberattacks and HIPAA Breaches Involving Medical Imaging.

Abstract

While there is significant literature discussing physical and cybersecurity risks around health information technology in general, the number of publications that specifically address medical imaging is much smaller, and many of these focus on the technical security requirements for the exchange of medical images over public networks rather than practical guidelines for radiologists and technicians. This study examines the US Department of Health and Human Services database of reported breaches involving medical imaging from 2010-2020, identifies the most common contributing factors to those breaches, and offers recommendations for radiology practices to prevent each, based on the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) guidelines as well as measures proposed in the literature on health information technology.