Preparing for compounding crises: Staff shortages and cyber-attack vulnerability in the era of COVID-19

Joshua Klindienst, Shant Ayanian, Jeff Schlegelmilch and Hana Akselrod
Additional contact information
Joshua Klindienst: US Acute Care Solutions, USA
Shant Ayanian: Alix School of Medicine, USA
Jeff Schlegelmilch: Director of National Center for Disaster Preparedness, Columbia University, USA
Hana Akselrod: George Washington University Medical Faculty Associates, USA

Journal of Business Continuity & Emergency Planning, 2022, vol. 16, issue 2, 103-120

Abstract: In 2020, while the USA was experiencing successive waves of COVID-19, Universal Health Services experienced a major cyber attack that crippled electronic systems in over 200 hospitals, including a major academic medical centre that was playing a key regional role in COVID-19 care and clinical trials. This paper discusses the impact of the attack on clinical operations, informatics, research and teaching, contextualising the case study within more wide-scale trends driving the rise in cyber attacks on healthcare systems. The compounding relationships between COVID-19, healthcare workforce depletion and cyber-security vulnerabilities form the framework of the discussion and action plan. Commitments to institutional best practices, large-scale investments in infrastructure, and above all increasing support for the critical human actors carrying out the work, are urgently needed to secure the healthcare system against these destabilising threats. Within this context, this paper argues that information security in the healthcare sector must be reimagined and integrated with greater support for the needs of frontline healthcare workers.

Keywords: COVID-19; cyber attacks; healthcare sector; information security (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: M1 M10 M12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://hstalks.com/article/7366/download/ (application/pdf)
https://hstalks.com/article/7366/ (text/html)
Requires a paid subscription for full access.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aza:jbcep0:y:2022:v:16:i:2:p:103-120

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Journal of Business Continuity & Emergency Planning from Henry Stewart Publications
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Henry Stewart Talks ().