November 14-15, 2019 Paris, France

The World Congress & Expo on Healthcare IT is a conference which focuses on technological innovations that can further develop today's healthcare systems. This year's main theme is how technology and medical science can work hand in hand to improve healthcare. The term Healthcare IT (HIT) is a combination of healthcare, computer science and information science.

This conference shines the light on how healthcare providers can improve the quality of care through IT. It consists of exhibitions, keynote presentations, workshops and discussion panels with industry experts. Moreover, product and service providers are permitted to present their technologies and services in the conference.

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On March 13 of 2019, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Matt Hancock, announced the creation of NHSX, which is a new unit developed to bridge the gap between healthcare and digital technology. It aims to do this by using technology to unite the three current departments; Health and Social Care; NHS England; and NHS Improvement.

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The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) recently published a policy paper which lays out the government's plan and vision for the development of user friendly technology in healthcare. The main purpose behind such development plans is to provide the public with improved healthcare experiences. With this vision in mind, the paper reveals the government's future priorities and areas of focus.

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A recent report by the research think tank, Parliament Street, revealed that 9,132 patient records were missing or stolen from 68 NHS hospital trusts throughout the 2017-2018 financial year.

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Most healthcare entities have come to terms with the benefits of transitioning to the cloud. Accordingly, a report by Markets and Markets states that the global healthcare cloud computing market is expected to increase from USD $28.1 billion in 2020 to USD $64.7 billion by 2025. However, moving to the cloud does not erase all cybersecurity, rather it makes breach management and patching all the more important.

The Ponemon Institute conducted a survey which revealed that the healthcare industry is falling behind in patching and managing vulnerabilities in its systems, leaving them open to breaches and cyber attacks. Of the 3000 security professionals who participated in the survey, 57% said that their organisation had experienced one or more data breaches in which networks were accessed via vulnerabilities. Patches had already been released for the vulnerabilities at the time of the attacks but had not been implemented.

According to the survey, this is a regular occurrence because over half of cybersecurity experts struggle to stay on top of patching due to a great shortage in staff. Consequently, high priority patches are put first and the rest typically take eight or more weeks to be implemented. Cybersecurity Ventures predicts that by 2025, there will be 3.5 million open positions in cybersecurity.

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Healthcare technology has made tremendous strides in just the past few years, however, the current status of healthcare information security and other integral issues may be unknown to many. For your convenience, Giva has listed a few upcoming healthcare security conferences and summits in the UK through the end of 2018 so you may gain valuable networking and educational information on this critical topic.

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As the healthcare industry expands, providers and organisations are leaning on and embracing innovative forms of technology to improve the most important facet of healthcare, that being patient care. Because patient care is a deeply interpersonal element of healthcare, the implementation of technology represents a potential threat to the face-to-face feature of patient care. Although, improvements in predictive healthcare technology could amount to both technological adoption and improved patient care, without the loss of personal interaction.

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According to a 2017 survey by Accenture, one in eight consumers in England has been the victim of medical information hacks. Their private medical information had been stolen from systems that lacked the adequate levels and measures of security. The survey of 1,000 people in England outlined that (78%) think healthcare providers should be responsible for protecting this information, while only 40% believe they themselves have responsibility. The data breaches that effectively jeopardised the medical information and identities of those affected each lost an average of £172 as a result.

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As widely reported, an international ransomware attack has hit computer systems in 150 countries, affecting hundreds of companies, businesses and specifically one of the most important sectors in the UK, healthcare. The malware that was used is called WannaCry, a very fitting name for all the feelings of despair that it undoubtedly evokes in its victims. The hackers demanded payment in Bitcoin money in return for access to patients' medical records and other critical information. It is believed that the attackers have leveraged a stolen NSA malware product that was initially created to be used in surveillance to spy on terrorists.

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