Over the past decade, there has been a rise in digital mental health services. However, an increased uptake in digital mental health services was observed during COVID-19. Stay-at-home orders, along with lack of access to basic services and loss of income, resulted in an increase in mental distress.
Recurrent surges of COVID-19 infections resulted in the widespread adoption of telemental health. The use of videoconferencing technology or telecommunications to provide mental health services is known as telemental health.
While technology made therapy convenient for both patients and doctors, this increasing reliance on it exposes mental and behavioral health practitioners to potential cybersecurity threats. Therefore, cybersecurity has become important for psychiatrists and psychotherapists to safeguard their clients’ information.
Here are a few valuable tips to keep your practice data safe:
Risks to Mental Health Information Systems
Historically, one of the most severe cyberattacks has been faced by the healthcare industry, including mental healthcare.
The rising demand for digital mental health support services has made the industry an attractive target for cyber attackers in recent years. The reason? Mental healthcare data, which includes extremely personal and sensitive records of the psychiatric counseling and treatment of patients, as well as their financial information, is valuable on the black market.
Stolen patient records are valued at thousands of dollars, which is why cybercriminals don’t hesitate to target medical servers.
Some of the most common cyberattacks mental health systems are vulnerable to are as follows:
- Malicious network traffic
- Phishing
- Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) cache poisoning
- Ransomware
- Man-in-the-middle (MITM) attacks
This fear of unauthorized access to personal details prevents many individuals from benefiting from the technological advancements that are aimed at improving access to mental health care. Therefore, it has become vital for mental and behavioral health practitioners to improve their digital security.
3 Tips to Reduce Your Risk of Cyber Attacks and Keep Data Safe
There are several ways to reduce your risk of cyber attacks and keep data safe. We’ve discussed some of them below:
- Invest in Tech Solutions
In this digital age, the best way to safeguard your client’s sensitive information is to invest in technological solutions.
A reliable practice management software specifically designed for mental health professionals is a must-have for therapists and psychiatrists. These robust solutions implement encryption to keep sensitive data secure and protect them from unauthorized access by attackers.
Practice management software is of two types: on-premise and cloud-based. Opt for the latter because it stores data on remote servers, which you can access anywhere.
Valued at $12.4 billion in 2022, the global practice management software market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 9.72% by 2030. Increasing demand for data security is anticipated to drive the growth of these solutions during the forecast period.
Another solution worth investing in is behavioral health billing software. Besides streamlining your billing process, this solution prevents data breaches by securing sensitive data through encryption.
Plus, it enforces strict access controls, which means only authorized personnel can access the billing system. Unauthorized individuals won’t be able to access stored details of patients. Even if they do, they won’t be able to read them without decryption keys.
Many behavioral health billing software are HIPAA-compliant. Software that is HIPAA-compliant strictly adheres to privacy and security regulations set by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act for patients’ sensitive data protection.
Millin Associates asserts that cloud-based, HIPAA-compliant software with real-time backups, redundancies, and enhanced safety features eliminates the requirement of costly IT infrastructure and maintenance.
- Implement Two-Factor or Multi-Factor Authentication
Implementing two-factor or multi-factor authentication can significantly reduce the risk of unauthorized access to patients’ sensitive data. Enable it on all your systems and accounts because it adds a layer of security through techniques like one-time codes or biometrics.
Anyone can access your stored data without two-factor or multi-factor authentication by entering your password and username. But, if you implement two-factor or multi-factor authentication, you can access the data only when you provide a second form of authentication. This way, the security of your clients’ information won’t be compromised even if login credentials are.
- Backup Your Data Regularly
It might not seem important, but backing up data is vital for mental and behavioral health practitioners. According to IT experts, you must follow the 3-2-1 rule when it comes to backup. Essentially, you should store three copies of your data on two types of media– external and local hard drives– and one in cloud storage (off-site location).
That way, if you ever become a cyberattack victim, your data won’t be lost due to multiple copies of backup.
To summarize, all digital mental and behavioral health providers are vulnerable to cyberattacks. In order to protect patients’ sensitive information, cybersecurity has become vital for psychotherapists and psychiatrists.
By investing in top-notch tech solutions, implementing two-factor or multi-factor authentication, and backing up your data regularly, you can significantly minimize your risk of cyberattacks. Other than that, you must train your staff on cybersecurity protocols, update your system and software regularly, and secure WiFi networks to prevent unauthorized access.
