Overcoming Data Security Challenges in IoT-Enabled Remote Patient Monitoring Systems.

Remote patient monitoring has been of great help for patients suffering from diabetes in the better management of their condition. For instance, a study shows that there has been a 22% reduction in monthly care costs for diabetes patients using RPM services for managing their condition. From allowing them to manage their health from the comfort of their health to better medication management, remote patient monitoring software proved to be a literal lifesaver for them.

These improved healthcare services are not just limited to diabetes patients, its role in managing chronic conditions is becoming even more significant than ever before. That is the reason it is one of those programs in the healthcare industry that has the highest adoption rate in modern-day healthcare practice along with programs for chronic disease management.

Apart from helping providers improve patient outcomes, it has played a crucial role in reducing the overall cost of care and empowering patients to actively participate in their care journey. However, in this transition from in-person care practices to virtual care practices, maintaining data security and privacy of patient information has become even more crucial. This has become one of the major concerns of healthcare providers trying to implement the RPM program in their practice.

In this blog, let’s address the data security and privacy challenges in remote patient monitoring and its successful implementation.

Understanding the Data Landscape

Before implementing data security and privacy measures in a virtual healthcare ecosystem, let’s first understand the data landscape in healthcare to implement robust security measures.

Type of Data Collected: In remote patient monitoring, different types of patient health data are collected with the help of RPM devices. For example, a patient’s vital signs, medication adherence, and activity levels are measured. This information is quite personal to every individual which maintaining its security even more important.
Data Storage & Transmission: Once the data is collected by the RPM devices, it is then transmitted to the patient’s server for analysis. Also, it is where the patient data is stored.
Potential Vulnerabilities: During this entire process of data collection and transmission, if appropriate security measures are not taken, it can lead to data breaches, or anyone unauthorized from the practice can access that. Along with that, there are high chances of losing that data as the digital healthcare landscape is quite prone to cyber-attacks and threats.

Building a Secure Foundation

The protection of patient data is essential for maintaining the integrity of the practice and also to avoid any legal complications. As failing to safeguard this data can lead to a violation of a patient’s fundamental rights, it is important to build a secure foundation. Here are some of the important aspects that can help you in building a secure and robust foundation.

Encryption: By encrypting patient data at rest and in transit, you implement one of the core aspects of security since that data becomes hard to decrypt and only authorized parties can access it to make sense of the data.
Access Controls: Another security feature that you need is robust access control with multi-factor authentication, which gives authorized personnel access to the data only. Role-based permissions are one of the things that are used in many practices to add another level of security for access to patient data.
Compliance with Regulations: Given the sensitive nature of personal information, the regulatory bodies have issued some standard practices for practices to comply with for safeguarding patient information. Some of those that you should be aware of are HIPAA in the USA and GDPR in countries part of the European Union.

Prioritizing Patient Privacy

Since the remote patient monitoring software and program will majorly be dealing with the personal information of patients, it is important to prioritize its privacy. To achieve this, here are some of the robust methods that can help you build a solid and secure base for maintaining data security.

Informed Consent: CMS requires you to obtain clear and informed consent from patients before collecting their data to provide care. This is important because it gives your practice the right to collect their health data and use it to provide better care services.
Data Minimization: Data minimization is nothing but a collection of data that is relevant for achieving a purpose, which in this case is to provide better care services. This ensures patients that only their health data is collected to provide them with better care services.
Data Anonymization & Pseudonymization: Data anonymization can be defined as a process of removing the identifiers from the collected data so that it can’t be traced back to its source. On the other hand, data pseudonymization replaces the identifiers in the data with codes or other indicators to make it difficult to trace its source. However, in data pseudonymization, the source can be traced with the right encryption. Both these factors are important in adding another layer of protection and privacy to patients’ health data.
Patient Control Over Data: Another important aspect of maintaining data security and privacy in RPM is to give the patients control of their data. This is important because, with this, the patient can easily access their health data, modify them as per their needs and requirements, and delete them, just in case.

Building Trust Through Transparency

Along with taking robust security measures and maintaining the privacy of the collected data, it is also important for you to maintain confidentiality and gain the trust of the patients for the success of your practice. The best way to gain that in remote patient monitoring is by bringing transparency to your care practices. Here are some of the best healthcare practices that are used to gain patient trust:

Clear Communication: Keep the communication transparent with the patients and walk them through the data landscape, explaining to them how the data is collected, used, and protected.
Data Breach Notification Policies: Explain the data breach notification policies to the patients clearly and what is done in case the data is breached. This is one of the best practices in the healthcare industry to gain patient trust.
Regular Reporting & Audits: Conduct regular security audits on the system to find any potential loopholes in the system and to improve the system’s security. Along with that, also report this to patients to further gain their trust in care delivery.

The Role of Healthcare Providers

If you’re a healthcare provider, your role in this becomes even more evident in maintaining the safety and security of the patient data that is being collected. Here are some of the things that you should be aware of:

Choosing a Secure RPM Vendor: Choose the right RPM vendor that has credible, ethical, and strong security practices. Going to someone who is reputable in the industry can be a good start.
Internal Training & Awareness: Train your healthcare staff on data security and privacy protocols for RPM set by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. This will not only encourage ethical practices but also help you navigate smoothly through the legal landscape.
Staying Updated: With technology moving at an unprecedented speed, the landscape of security in healthcare is often evolving along with technology. To stay ahead of the curve, you need to stay updated with the evolving landscape and implement best practices in data security and privacy for your remote patient monitoring program.

Conclusion

Before starting your remote patient monitoring program, you need to understand that you will be dealing with some of the most crucial and sensitive information of your patients. That is why you need to maintain its security and privacy.

Abiding by the regulations and maintaining a robust security system will not only help you maintain the integrity of your practice but also keep you away from legal troubles. Let this blog be your guide to building a safe and secure RPM system. If you’re looking to get fast-tracked and start your RPM program as soon as possible, click here to book your free consultation call.