Intermountain Healthcare’s chief information security officer Karl West kicked off the HIMSS19 Revenue Cycle Solutions Summit with a strong message for his captive audience. If you’re a revenue cycle leader, you need to understand a fundamental reality: There’s a whole host of data available for hackers in your rev cycle. Not only is there payment information, there is also member information and all of your PHI. All of those are sources of cyber risk.
For example, patient portal credentials are highly valuable for hackers at around $1,500 or more according to one study, West said.
As such, there needs to be a strong partnership between your cyber organization/operation and your revenue cycle. You also need to understand what are the threats and sources of loss. First, there’s phishing. It’s common and proven to be effective. At Intermountain, they phish their employees four times a year to test their proclivity to fall victim. Even though some find the measure frustrating, it’s essential to flushing out vulnerability.
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