Using Cybersecurity and AI to Increase Operational Effectiveness in 2025

Concerns about burnout and healthcare shortages have been for decades as the gap between the amount of care that people require worldwide and the number of healthcare professionals who can give it keeps widening, and things are only going to get worse. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, there will be a shortage of up to 41,900 radiologists in the United States alone by 2033. Up to 63% of doctors report having burnout symptoms as a result of the stress of increasing patient loads placed on those who stay in the medical field due to staffing levels that cannot keep up with demand.

To help healthcare professionals deal with these complexities and free up more time for providers to return to their passion for medicine and bedside care, artificial intelligence (AI)-driven technologies have emerged as a crucial solution and area for innovation. AI has already made great strides in easing the stress experienced by radiology departments and can assist healthcare professionals in streamlining operations, increasing efficiency, lowering costs, and increasing throughput.

Applications of AI have enormous potential to improve physician workload and patient care in healthcare systems. Careful management of cyber security will be necessary to stop any AI-powered cyberattacks. This is particularly true in the healthcare industry, which is one of the most often targeted sectors for cyberattacks. Hospitals account for 30% of all significant breaches.

Risks of cyberattacks and data breaches will only increase as 2025 approaches, interfering with care and diverting funds and time from sectors that could employ them more effectively. In 2022, the average cost of a cyberattack in the healthcare sector was $10.1 million, and the average time to detect and stop a breach was 280 days. The damage that can be done to people who are involved in a breach, which may reveal extremely private information like social security numbers, is not even taken into consideration.

Even though cyberattacks are nearly unavoidable, being at risk of them doesn't have to be. Every firm can take some actions to guarantee the security of its data, such as:

Securing linked medical devices: Although hospitals' information technology structures and security plans may not necessarily include connected medical devices, these devices can be a major point of entry for attackers. Even worse, although security features are usually incorporated into newer systems, older medical equipment that are still in use but were not intended with these protections and are beyond repair could provide a serious vulnerability that could let attackers in. Ensuring the security of all medical equipment is essential for safeguarding patient privacy, health information, hospital and health networks, and possibly even patient safety.

Reducing vulnerabilities: Preventing a cyberattack before it starts is the strongest defense against it. This calls for being proactive and making sure that any medical equipment that is connected complements the overall security strategy of a healthcare institution. To safeguard the device, data, and network, a thorough plan should incorporate security controls at the technical, operational, and management levels.

Collaborating to enhance risk management: Cyberattacks affect multiple people. These are systemic breaches that have the potential to interfere with all healthcare systems. In order to teach the general staff about safeguarding devices from advanced cyber threats, cyber security necessitates cooperation from all departments, including radiology, emergency medicine, and cybersecurity. To ensure that every team member understands the significance of being alert in the event of an attack, all departments must participate in the discussion.

In the end, artificial intelligence (AI) is a crucial development that may relieve a great deal of the strain on healthcare professionals; nevertheless, like any technological innovation, it also makes people more susceptible to cyberattacks and data breaches by malicious actors. Hospitals and health systems should prioritize strengthening their cybersecurity in 2025 in order to combat it and enable their healthcare providers to profit from artificial intelligence.