Security in Healthcare
Security in healthcare is about protecting systems and health information from unauthorized access, misuse, and downtime while keeping care delivery running.
If privacy is “what should happen with data,” security is “how we stop the wrong thing from happening to it.”
Why healthcare security is uniquely high-stakes
Healthcare environments combine sensitive data with operational pressure.
Downtime is not just inconvenient
When systems go down, care can slow or stop. That makes availability and resilience part of the security conversation, not an afterthought.
The environment is complex
Healthcare workflows often involve:
- Multiple systems and vendors
- Legacy tools and integrations
- Many roles with different access needs
- High-volume support and administrative processes
Complexity creates blind spots, and blind spots create risk.
The most common healthcare security failure points
These are the areas where teams get hit most often.
Identity and access control
- Over-permissioned roles
- Shared credentials
- Weak offboarding
- MFA gaps
Vendor and integration risk
- Too many tools touching sensitive data
- Unclear vendor access boundaries
- “Just connect it” integrations without review
Monitoring and response readiness
- Logs exist but aren’t centralized or reviewed
- No clear incident owner or escalation path
- No practice runs for real scenarios
Data handling and retention
- Exports stored indefinitely
- Support tickets/screenshots containing sensitive information
- Backups retained without clear rules
If you want the baseline that covers the most common gaps quickly, start here: Minimum Viable Privacy (MVP)
What good healthcare security looks like (in practice)
You don’t need perfection. You need a clear, defensible posture.
The core foundations
- MFA everywhere and least privilege by role
- Strong admin controls and separation of duties
- Secure configuration baselines for cloud and endpoints
- Centralized logging for critical systems
- Incident response playbooks your team can actually execute
- Vendor boundaries and access reviews
Which assessment should you run
If you’re unsure where to start, pick the assessment that matches your question.
Threat and Risk Assessment (TRA)
Best for identifying your biggest risks and creating a prioritized roadmap.
Start here: Threat and Risk Assessment (TRA)
Penetration Testing
Best for validating exploitability and finding real technical weaknesses.
Start here: Penetration Testing
Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA)
Best when risk is driven by complex data flows and sensitive information handling.
Start here: Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA)
Ongoing leadership matters in healthcare
Security isn’t a one-time project. In healthcare, new vendors, new workflows, and new integrations constantly change your risk profile.
If you need ongoing security leadership without a full-time hire, explore: Virtual CISO (vCISO)
Next step
Tell us what you do, where sensitive data lives, and what systems matter most to operations. We’ll recommend the smallest set of actions that materially improves your security posture.
Start here: Book a call