The internet has brought previously unattainable levels of convenience to our lives, with processes that used to take weeks or months now being accomplished within minutes and hours. This applies not only for personal lives but also to businesses, which can scarcely afford not having an online presence.

Digital communication tools have made sharing patient data a quicker process, with it also being easier than ever for patients to connect with their physicians. While there can be no doubt that the internet is an invaluable tool for any medical practice, there are certain threats that providers need to be aware of when investing in a virtual care solution.

Data-in-Transit Encrypted
Secure communication is the key step to ensuring all your information is secure while in transit; from your computer to EMR servers and beyond, all protected health information (PHI) must be secure and always available. Though most healthcare systems that involve sharing confidential patient information, providers must always be wary of privacy and security threats.

The best method to offer patient-provider communication in a safe manner is through encrypted chat. Encryption is a simple concept: it delivers information in a format that cannot be read by anyone other than the intended party when sent from one device to another. End-to-end encryption makes it so that the information is only accessible by the sender and their intended recipient.

Any solution worth considering must offer industry-standard AES 256 Bit-Encryption. In layman’s terms, higher bit numbers mean more complicated encryption, making it harder for unintended recipients to crack or hack your information.

Data at Rest Encryption
The Healthcare industry has always been a target of cyberattacks, being especially susceptible to ransomware. All it takes is for a single computer on the network to be compromised for hackers to gain access to patient health information an organization maintains insider threat detection tools. Encrypting data at rest is vital to data protection, and the practice reduces the likelihood of data loss or theft in cases of:

• A data breach.
• Lost or stolen devices.
• Inadvertent password sharing.
• Accidental permission granting.
• Data leakage.

Security Compliance
Privacy and security within the healthcare industry are regulated by the Health Insurance Portability and Availability Act (HIPAA). Other regulations include the Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA), the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), and the Personal.

Server Locations
Another aspect of virtual healthcare is the server location. Having servers be located in a different state or country can be another potential risk to security and privacy. Servers located in another country will be subject to the security and privacy laws of that country, and any changes to these laws could allow a foreign government to lawfully acquire patient information stored on them.

Before picking a solution, providers should enquire where the vendor’s servers are located. As a rule of thumb, it is smart to invest in solutions that are in the same country as the practice.