Healthcare cybersecurity market flooded with solutions
Hospitals face heightened concerns due to ubiquitous cyber-attacks that threaten the privacy and security of their data assets and enterprise IT systems. Theft of protected health information for sale on the black market for identity theft or financial fraud is bad enough, but hospitals also have the added and very significant concern of actual patient harm that could result from compromised IT systems.
Consequently, new cybersecurity threats faced by hospitals are likely to result in increased scrutiny by federal and state regulatory bodies. The potential of new regulatory oversight is just one of the factors driving hospitals to spend more time, effort and money to combat the costly and potentially dangerous data breaches and cyber-attacks that are proliferating across the healthcare industry.
Healthcare organizations are struggling
New analysis from Frost & Sullivan, US Hospital Cybersecurity Market: 2015-2021, finds that healthcare organizations are struggling to respond to an alarming increase in the incidence of data breaches and cyber attacks.
The industry has an urgent need to deploy new solutions and new approaches to address cybersecurity risks arising from the recent widespread digitization of health data via EHRs and the increase in the exchange of these data across dispersed care settings and computer endpoints.
Healthcare cybersecurity market
A variety of new vendors are flooding the healthcare cybersecurity market due to a range of attractive growth opportunities emerging from unmet needs. While many hospitals’ buyers are only beginning to engage in the field today, they will change their culture around IT security and gain in sophistication. Soon, vendors will face closer scrutiny and tougher selling environments.
Vendors serving the hospital cybersecurity market face a highly dynamic environment that offers many challenges and opportunities over the next five to six years. Frost & Sullivan predicts that the total market for cybersecurity solutions deployed by US hospitals will grow at a CAGR of 13.6 percent between 2016 and 2021.
“We see here the core issues to understand when considering the trajectory of the hospital cybersecurity market and key competitive dynamics needed to succeed,” stated Frost & Sullivan Principal Connected Health Analyst Nancy Fabozzi. “Because of the increased risk of cyber-attacks of every type, especially phishing and ransomware, hospitals are transitioning from their traditional reactive and fragmented approach to protecting privacy and security that is highly dependent on HIPAA compliance to a new approach and mindset that is proactive, holistic, and coordinated, anchored by integrated solutions designed to protect multiple endpoints.”
Business opportunities
Increased cyber-attacks targeting hospitals, new regulations, shortages of trained IT security staff, and a constantly evolving threat environment creates numerous business opportunities for new and existing vendors alike.
“Going forward, all health IT vendors serving the hospital market—and not just vendors of IT security solutions but application vendors as well—must recognize that the increased threat environment demands strong, baked-in security features,” said Fabozzi. “To ensure this capability, vendors need to innovate to survive, building or buying advanced functionality and next generation capabilities as the market moves from protecting the walled garden to protecting a vast connected perimeter.”