Healthcare providers need to be aware of the negative impact.

Once a healthcare data breach happens, that information is gone forever. As soon as the crime occurs, it appears on the dark web sold to the highest bidder. Consumer trust is damaged every time a data breach transpires in healthcare. And that affects the bottom line.

 

There is a gap between perception versus reality among companies and consumers.

 

Businesses vastly underestimate the severity of these cybersecurity accidents in the eyes of their consumers. In the results of an April 2018 CA Technologies and Frost & Sullivan study illustrate this perception gap. They aggregated variables like consumer willingness to share personal information online and the belief that companies protect their data to come up with a digital trust score ranked on a scale of 0 to 100. US internet users gave businesses a trust score of 61, the same as the global average. Organizations though gave themselves an average rating of 75 when asked if consumers trusted them.

 

That gap needs closing.

 

Levels of trust correlate with spending. There is a financial impact when trust erodes. Less confidence in your ability to protect their data means consumers are less likely to spend their money on your services and products. In the field of healthcare, trust is paramount. While consumers with all levels of trust from low to high increased spending over a 12-month period, the low-trust consumer spending was a slower rate and 15 percent decreased their spending compared to high-trust who only reduced spending by 4 percent. Combine less spending by consumers with the cost of recovering/restoring patient records lost in a data breach is about $408 per record according to a recent Ponemon report.

Healthcare organization that underinvest in cybersecurity and do not take customers’ perception will find their profitability negatively affected. Organizations need to plan and prepare for cyber attacks. It is not about if it will happen, but now when it happens.

Are you ready to lead? Let’s talk.

Leadership Takeaways

 

– Businesses vastly underestimate the severity of these cybersecurity accidents in the eyes of their consumers.
– US internet users gave businesses a trust score of 61, the same as the global average while organizations though gave themselves an average rating of 75 when asked if consumers trusted them.
– Less confidence in your ability to protect their data means consumers are less likely to spend their money on your services and products.
– Cost of recovering/restoring patient records lost in a data breach is about $408 per record.