Is your healthcare data really safe?

Data safety in the age of digital healthcare

Hospitals are one of the safest places on earth, where people come to receive treatment and are well cared for. This was the universal truth until, on a typical day in the year 2020, a hospital in Germany was hit by a sudden ransomware attack that led to a patient’s death. Unbelievable but true. The cyberattack disabled the hospital’s systems, resulting in the redirection of all the emergency services to other hospitals. A woman in critical condition was taken to another hospital 30 kilometers away, where she died due to delayed treatment.

It won’t be exaggerated to say that weak cybersecurity doesn’t just risk data. It costs patients their lives and hospitals and other institutions their reputation. Behind every health record is more than just medical data; there’s identity, financial history, and insurance coverage. When that data’s exposed, it can throw clinical research off track or spark insurance fraud.

How does IAM impact data security?

Hospital staff, especially doctors and nurses, never function from the same place. They are always on the move, and each move requires them to access patient data from wherever they are. Manual handling of data can cause errors and delays in treatment, thereby risking patient safety.

For example, a cardiologist who works across multiple hospitals may require changing their access needs based on the facility, location, and local applications. Exhibit 1 explains how IAM streamlines access across sites without delays.

Exhibit 1: Identity and Access Management (IAM) workflow for a care provider accessing information from two different locations.

While IAM eases access by automating data transfer, it also broadens the number of people who can interact with sensitive data. Automation handles much of the provisioning and de-provisioning, but not every situation can be anticipated in real time. There are moments when access continues beyond what’s needed, and this can create risks that go unnoticed.

This is where Access Review, also referred to as Recertification, becomes essential. Managers regularly receive a summary of what systems their team members have access to. This gives them the chance to review and decide whether all those accesses are still necessary. A nurse or technician might have needed elevated access for a few days, but if they still have it weeks later, it becomes a potential risk.

How often these reviews are done usually depends on how sensitive the system is. For some high-risk applications, checks may happen every couple of weeks. Others might only need a review once a month or even once in six months. What matters is that access granted for short-term needs doesn’t quietly continue beyond its purpose. Reviewing access regularly helps reduce the chances of sensitive data remaining exposed longer than necessary.

Healthcare settings can change in an instant. In a critical moment, a nurse might need quick access to patient details they don’t usually handle, and in those situations, every second truly matters. IAM is built to handle these exceptions without compromising security. Exhibit 2 depicts IAM provisions for time-bound access.

Exhibit 2: Identity and Access Management (IAM) provisions for time-bound access

Patient data is also exposed at the payer’s end. Payer companies often work with external agencies to process insurance claims. These third parties need access to systems, but that access can’t be unlimited or indefinite. Here’s the risk: someone leaves the vendor team, but their login still works. If the IAM is in place, it helps ensure

• Access is tied to roles and timelines.
• If the role changes or someone exits, access shuts off automatically.
• Every login is logged. No more blind spots.

Data access is also significant for patients. They meet multiple doctors and interact with various departments during their visit to the hospital. Each department registers its data, which gets stored in its systems. Now, imagine a scenario when the patient wants to access reports for a second opinion or during an emergency.

To help patients securely access their reports from anywhere at any time, IAM has a customized tool called the Customer IAM (CIAM). While providing patients with the luxury of access anytime, anywhere, it also helps eliminate the need for physical paperwork or in-person visits. Exhibit 3 explains the workflow for a similar scenario.

Exhibit 3: Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) Workflow

Even with IAM in place, there’s always a need to watch for access that stays open longer than it should. That’s where AI is beginning to make a real difference.

How does Agentic AI make access reviews smarter?

Traditionally, access reviews are conducted at set intervals. However, this creates a window of vulnerability between the moment access becomes outdated and when the review is actually scheduled. To solve for this, cybersecurity teams are now deploying Agentic AI to make access reviews proactive and real-time.

Agentic AI continuously monitors access to critical applications. With traditional access reviews, teams rely on a fixed schedule, like a review every 30 or 90 days. The downside is that a user may hold on to access they no longer need until the next scheduled review rolls around. That’s where Agentic AI steps in. This AI doesn’t wait for a calendar reminder. Instead, it keeps a constant eye on access to sensitive systems. If it notices that someone still has access beyond the time originally approved, it flags the situation and prompts the manager to review it right away.

The best part?

It doesn’t need a complex IAM setup to work. Even in organizations without advanced identity tools, Agentic AI can quietly monitor access in the background, acting as an always-on layer of protection that helps keep systems secure and access relevant.

Conclusion

The amount of data generated by healthcare institutions is growing by the second. This only increases the role of cybersecurity and makes it paramount to safeguard patient data to prevent unwanted events. IAM is a significant tool that helps ensure patient data and lays the foundation for the future of healthcare, which is safe, seamless, and precise. Hence, it can be said without any doubt that securing patient data can save lives.

References:

1. Hospital ransomware attack results in patient death (hipaajournal.com)