One of the primary foundations of healthcare is the famed doctor-patient confidentiality. No medical service can be provided without this tenet being followed, and that places great emphasis on how sensitively an individual views their medical records.<\/span><\/p>\n Over the past decade, the healthcare sector has seen many advancements, like telehealth, COVID19 tracking and electronic health records. Yet, all these cutting-edge digital technologies have ended up expanding the potential attack surfaces for attackers to steal sensitive data, and that puts at risk the very sanctity of the confidentiality agreement.<\/span><\/p>\n For the 13th consecutive year, the healthcare industry maintained its position as the most expensive sector when it comes to data breaches in IBM\u2019s 2023 Cost of Data Breach Report<\/a>. The average healthcare data breach costs $10.93 million, more than twice the average cost of all breaches. Clearly, the added sensitivity of medical records compared to other personal data results in attackers demanding higher amounts than usual.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The sector has seen some of the biggest ever data breaches, from the Anthem data breach<\/a> in 2015 that compromised health records of over 80 million individuals to the recent Change Healthcare breach<\/a> which saw records of a third of all Americans released on the dark web. In such circumstances, it\u2019s no surprise that according to the HIPAA Journal<\/a>, an overwhelming 95% of patients worry about potential theft or online leaks of their sensitive health data.<\/span><\/p>\n It doesn\u2019t help that a majority of patient records are still stored in hospital operations & management IT systems, a coveted target for vulnerability-seeking attackers. This has serious ramifications – the breaches don\u2019t just affect your bottom line. They also compromise patient privacy, jeopardize medical treatments and prove to be detrimental to patients\u2019 financial well-being & safety.<\/span><\/p>\n The breaches mentioned above either involve <\/span>stolen credentials<\/span><\/i> and <\/span>centralized database vulnerabilities<\/span><\/i> – two of the biggest, most targeted vectors in the healthcare field. Any kind of solution to transform healthcare security must first resolve these two issues. <\/span>BlockID<\/b>, a solution from the <\/span>iValue-1Kosmos partnership<\/b><\/a>, tackles these two pain points using two transformative concepts – <\/span>biometrics<\/span><\/i> & <\/span>blockchain<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n Biometrics solves the issue of stolen credentials by replacing outdated and increasingly vulnerable usernames and passwords with a verified identity. Using live biometrics for verification and matching them with government certified credentials like AADHAAR ensures users are who they say they are. Moreover, they provide far greater speed of authentication than other methods, and that can be critical in a high-pressure sector like healthcare where every second counts.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Blockchain, on the other hand, solves the issue of centralized database vulnerabilities using the revolutionary concept of <\/span>decentralization. <\/b>Rather than keeping all those sensitive records in one potentially vulnerable place, decentralization disperses all the data throughout the blockchain and ensures no single point of failure. Integrity of the records is maintained through the property of immutable records, and automated compliance to regulations like HIPAA are maintained through smart contracts,<\/span><\/p>\n 1Kosmos healthcare solutions combine the two through BlockID, a healthcare security blockchain biometrics solution. Using a private blockchain with distributed ledgers, BlockId encrypts digital identities in Secure Enclaves that are only accessible through advanced FIDO2 biometric verification.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n With this, patient data security for your organization is at the optimal level, dramatically reducing the attack vectors for a breach. But the beauty of these technologies is that they don\u2019t just provide better security – they provide <\/span>better overall care<\/b>, and that can truly transform this sector.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n At the intersection of our blockchain and biometrics-based solution is something called a <\/span>digital identity.<\/b> This is an electronic, portable representation of someone\u2019s real world identity, and will consist of data like identity information (name, DOB) as well as sensitive personal information (medical records, insurance coverage and financial history). In our solution, this digital identity and all the data that comes with it is stored in a <\/span>digital wallet<\/b> completely under the owner\u2019s control.<\/span><\/p>\n Traditional processes in healthcare have left sensitive records scattered across many, many different providers. If implemented correctly, digital wallets have the ability to empower patients and completely transform the healthcare sector:<\/span><\/p>\n Digital wallets can transform user experiences for both patients and practitioners. Another such medical advancement in the recent past is e-prescriptions, which is enforced in the US through a DEA-enabled regulation called electronic prescribing for controlled substances (EPCS). This was introduced to ensure prescriptions were securely transmitted from clinicians to pharmacies without any risk of forgery or alteration. To uphold this, the DEA mandates that anyone who e-prescribes a controlled substance must be identity proofed using NIST compliance, specifically called IAL2 verification.<\/span><\/p>\n Recently, a healthcare technology organization came to 1Kosmos with a mandate to replace their legacy approach to identity proofing (which was costing them $35 per manual verification) to an online, automated user workflow that delivered an IAL2 verification with every single practitioner authentication.<\/span><\/p>\n Here were all the ways 1Kosmos transformed this organization\u2019s processes:<\/span><\/p>\n This solution led to <\/span>proofing cost savings of $1.25 million per year<\/b> for the organization. Therefore, our solution doesn\u2019t just fortify your patient data security – it also has the capacity to transform your entire organization for the better.<\/span><\/p>\nThe role of blockchain and biometrics in enhancing security<\/h2>\n
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