Preparing Your Healthcare Business for Cybersecurity Risks

In a world where cybersecurity threats are on the rise, it is crucial for healthcare businesses to be proactive in preparing for potential risks.

The UnitedHealthcare Group's cybersecurity breach in late February should remind every health and wellness business executive that no enterprise is immune to nefarious hackers. 

Smaller organizations may consider cybersecurity crisis prevention and contingency planning cost-prohibitive and only necessary for enterprise organizations.

Not true.

I rarely refer to advertising slogans to make a point. But sometimes the logic of a comparison just fits the narrative. You may have watched a TV commercial in which a lawyer advises his prospects that “if you have a phone, you have a lawyer.”

Borrowing from that Saiontz and Kirk law firm’s ad, it seems also logical that if you run a healthcare or other consumer-centric business that maintains a database in a customer experience or customer relationship management software-as-a service, or SaaS, you have the ability to craft a cybersecurity crisis mitigation plan.

Here are five suggested steps for mitigating potential cybersecurity risk to your most prized assets: your customers and clients.

1. 1.  Use an email service provider, like Constant Contact or MailChimp Intuit, to build a cybersecurity communication campaign. Generative AI can help write an outline of the cybersecurity tips or reminders to give your clients as a service on a regular basis. You can also use AI supports now found within most ESPs to write the first draft of a data breach letter to be sent in the event of a cybersecurity attack.
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3. You may need a second letter template. The second the letter could refer to a data breach by one of your business partners. This is a key reason why all health organizations that share patient data must require any businesses with access to the data to protect PII—personally identifiable information—before signing an agreement to do business.

1. 2.  Use automation for cybersecurity awareness “drip” campaigns. Marketing and customer experience software, like ActiveCampaign and HubSpot, allow for the creation of a series of pre-written emails that can be automatically sent to segments of your customer database at specific intervals and based on pre-determined “triggers.” Emails about potential or incidents of cybersecurity attacks may begin with the  introduction to the data breach, follow-up actions or sequences of actions, and follow-up surveys or quizzes about online safety. 
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3. This can help show your customers and staff that you care about the dangers of a data breach on privacy and you’re in the battle with them against the cyber thieves. Customer outreach that shows a proactive stance by your organization will help build loyalty and keep your brand top of mind.

1. 3.  Don’t treat personalization lightly. It’s not a trend that you use initially in your first correspondence or alert and never again. That’s why SaaS marketing tools encourage the use of personalization fields throughout the automation process after each trigger.
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3. Personalization can and should be used at every touchpoint, including website sign-ups or contact form submission thank-you responses. These autoresponders can also acknowledge the user's action and provide relevant information or resources.

1. 4.  Behavior-based segmentation. You can utilize automation tools to segment your email list based on a user’s behavior, such as clicks, opens, or responses to company emails about cybersecurity. Then, create automated campaigns specifically targeted to these segments, delivering personalized and timely content based on user interaction and demographics.
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3. 5.  Age-based segmentation may be necessary to provide more guidance and emphasis on being aware of scams. A recent statistic showed that 1 in 4 people are the victims of a scam every year in the United States and often older Americans are victimized. In these cases, generative AI can help you write with a more compassion and supportive tone for older adults versus your content tone for younger clients. Just use an AI prompt that describes who you are and the person you would like to write your letter to convince.

A breach in cybersecurity can have devastating consequences, leading to compromised patient trust, legal repercussions, and financial losses. It is imperative for healthcare professionals to understand the importance of cybersecurity and take proactive measures to safeguard patient information.

Whatever the future demands to keep customer data safe, it’s clear new marketing tools offer any business essential resources to react quickly and comprehensively to a cyber attack.

If your business needs assistance with fully using new automation and AI supports to mitigate cybersecurity risks and prepare for the unavoidable, let’s set up a meeting to explore a few strategies.