Healthcare’s Reliance on Legacy Technology Increases Risk of Cyberattacks and Clinician Burnout
The use of outdated technology in healthcare is putting patient safety at risk, contributing to clinician burnout, and forcing staff to use shadow IT, which significantly increases cybersecurity risk. Those are some of the key findings of a recent survey of healthcare professionals by Censuswide, on behalf of the IT company Presidio. More than 1,000 frontline healthcare workers directly involved in patient care were surveyed from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Ireland to explore how the potential of artificial intelligence in healthcare could be unlocked.
The survey highlighted the real-world costs for healthcare professionals, the organizations they work for, and the patients they serve from the continued use of outdated technology systems. Alarmingly, the survey revealed that an overwhelming majority of respondents (98%) said inefficient technology systems are causing delays or errors in patient care. These are not isolated delays and errors, as on average, they are occurring at a rate of 11 incidents a month, and almost one-quarter (24%) of respondents said these errors and delays to patient care occur on a daily basis, at least once per shift.
Some of the main issues with the use of legacy systems were latency issues with EHR systems, which means clinicians do not have access to real-time data. There are disconnected and fragmented platforms that do not ‘talk’ to each other or facilitate easy data exchange, and in many clinical settings, the lack of mobile access is a barrier to efficiency. Outdated technology often fails, and when that happens, patients are negatively affected, and patient data cannot be accessed easily – a problem for 95% of respondents. The lack of modern, efficient technology also contributes to clinician burnout. Respondents confirmed that they are under pressure to work faster and get more done, but are hampered by inefficient IT systems. In the United States, 95% of respondents said outdated systems were contributing to burnout, and 100% in Ireland.
With clinicians under pressure, many turn to shadow IT – software that has not been authorized for use by the IT department. These software solutions are downloaded with good intentions – to get more done in less time – but the software is a major security risk. Software may be downloaded that contains malicious code, and since it is used without the knowledge of the IT department, updates to resolve identified vulnerabilities are unlikely to be applied. Further, in the United States, any software that interacts with patients’ PHI must be HIPAA-compliant, and a business associate agreement must be signed with the software vendor. Shadow IT is therefore a major compliance risk as these tools often lack encryption, do not maintain an audit trail, or have role-based access controls, which puts patient data at risk. Alarmingly, almost one-quarter of respondents said they use workarounds for basic tasks. “Shadow IT poses a major threat to healthcare data security, as these tools often lack essential safeguards such as encryption, role-based access controls, and audit trails,” explained Presidio in the report.
AI is viewed as a potential solution to the problem, with virtually all respondents believing that AI would have an immediate positive impact. AI tools could eliminate a lot of the time-consuming IT tasks, freeing up clinicians to spend more time with patients, and could assist with clinical decision making and personalized treatment recommendations, helping clinicians to work more efficiently.
One potential problem is that healthcare workers may resort to using unauthorized AI tools, which lack appropriate security and governance controls. “The risks are growing as employees increasingly turn to non-sanctioned AI solutions to fill gaps left by outdated technology,” Presidio said. “While these tools may help them move faster in the short term, they can also expose sensitive data to external platforms, compounding the compliance and security challenges healthcare leaders already face.”
While AI has tremendous potential and clinicians want access to AI tools, healthcare is still in the early stages of AI adoption. For instance, only 35% of respondents said their organization is using real-time data at scale to support decision making. The benefits are clear, as those who do are twice as likely to say their technology meets their needs.
