Cybersecurity During and After a Pandemic

Healthcare IT teams had to move quickly when social distancing requirements shuttered offices, and large numbers of employees started working from home. Suddenly the question was: How does an organization safely continue operations during a pandemic? What are the new business continuity, cybersecurity, and privacy considerations? What immediate actions should be taken?

On today's show, John Zuziak, Change Healthcare's Security and IT Risk Management Practice Director, talks "cybersecurity in our new world" with Eric Decker, CIO; Peter Jabrucki, CISO; and LeMar Ward, Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery manager, all with Independent Health, a not-for-profit health plan headquartered in Buffalo, New York.

These IT leaders discuss how and why they've been preparing for a crisis such as this one, and what actions they've taken to manage the new requirements and new risks posed by having a substantial workforce rapidly "lift and shift" from on-site to remote teams.

Here's what they covered in their panel discussion:

• Planning ahead to get a jump on a crisis
• How a snowbelt HQ helped the company prepare for the pandemic
• The importance of a WFH (work-from-home) trial run
• Identifying and preventing staffing gaps in key IT areas, including third-party vendors
• Handling the uptick in cybersecurity risks from targeted phishing, teleconferencing technology, and data breaches due to WFH support
• The need to educate, but not overwhelm, IT and remote staff about cybersecurity risks
• Monitoring off-site sign-ons and potential breaches
• Managing a higher volume of incident reports
• Looking ahead: Predictions of how healthcare IT will change as a result of the pandemic

Episode Resources

1. John Zuziak's bio
2. Eric Decker's bio
3. Peter Jabrucki's bio
4. LeMar Ward's bio
5. Independent Health's website
6. Change Healthcare Consulting Services resource hub
7. Change Healthcare Consulting Services
8. Change Healthcare COVID-19 Updates and Resources

Show Resources

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