The 2024 Change Healthcare breach marked a turning point for the healthcare industry. It exposed critical vulnerabilities in current data governance and security practices, underscoring that no organization — regardless of size or resources — is immune to cyber threats. A year later, it's clear that while some progress has been made, there is still much to be done to protect patient data and ensure continuity of care. The breach served as a wake-up call for the healthcare industry. It shattered the illusion of security that many organizations held and reinforced a hard truth: no one is 100% safe from cyberattacks. To address this reality, organizations must adopt a resilience mindset, focusing not just on prevention but also on preparation for inevitable incidents.
Enterprises lean on BPOs because they provide a cost-effective way to perform necessary and high-volume, yet mundane and repetitive work – like customer support, outsourced IT, and financial claims processing – that they do not want to handle themselves. The work BPOs do is important, but the experience of working with them is far from seamless.
Johnson & Johnson's halt of U.S. sales of a new heart-rhythm device due to safety concerns is hobbling a major strategic push by the company into one of the industry's fastest-growing markets. The healthcare company paused use of the device, known as Varipulse, last month after receiving reports of neurovascular events in several patients. The company didn't explain what the events were, but several strokes have been reported to a federal device-safety database, and doctors' concerns are centered on strokes. J&J has been racing to catch up to competitors in the fast-growing market for medical devices treating irregular heart rhythms, and to revive the company's medical-device business generally.
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, there has been a steady increase in the number of healthcare workers quitting their jobs. And though the industry is focused on hiring, the burden on the remaining doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals is still a heavy one. Healthcare professionals believe that aid can come in the form of generative AI that turns user inputs into new content.
Cyber threats evolve faster than organizations can patch their systems. The traditional security approach—periodic vulnerability scans, annual penetration tests, and rigid compliance checklists—has proven inadequate against today’s sophisticated cyber adversaries.