Free Cybersecurity Training Video Series for Healthcare Clinicians, Professionals, and Students

April 5, 2023

Health Sector Coordinating Council Releases Free Cybersecurity Training Video Series

Available on YouTube and eLearning Systems for Healthcare Clinicians, Professionals and Students

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 5, 2023

The Health Sector Coordinating Council released today a free cybersecurity training video series titled “Cybersecurity for the Clinician.” This impactful series explains in easy, non-technical language the basics for how cyber-attacks can affect clinical operations and patient safety, and how clinicians can do their part to help keep healthcare data, systems and patients safe from cyber threats without losing time away from patients.

The eight-episode series, totaling about 45 minutes, offers one CME/CEU credit hour. The Series may also satisfy documentation requirements of the CMS Emergency Preparedness Rule, the National Fire Protection Association and The Joint Commission for facility Hazard Vulnerability Analysis and Risk Analysis and Training. It is intended for private clinical practices, health provider institutions of all types and sizes, academic institutions, and healthcare support functions.

Clinicians, students, professionals, and institutions with training programs may download the series on YouTube or in eLearning format at:

https://healthsectorcouncil.org/cyberclinicianvideos/.

“Every hospital C-Suite executive needs to support a good cybersecurity program, which includes training clinical staff on the basics,” said Mark Jarrett, Chairman of the Healthcare and Public Health Sector Coordinating Council (HSCC). Dr. Jarrett, who is also the former Chief Quality Officer and Deputy Chief Medical Officer for Northwell Health, added “I would advise every hospital system in the country to consider using ‘Cybersecurity for the Clinician’ in their learning management systems.”

Erik Decker, Chief Information Security Officer for Intermountain Health and Chair of the HSCC Cybersecurity Working Group, added “This video series articulates simple cybersecurity basics for the frontline technology user. The fact that the on-camera host is an emergency room physician and a self-trained hacker demonstrates the credibility of the message that clinicians and students need to hear: cyber safety is patient safety.”

To view an introduction of this series, please see this video promotion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awIJ8kSP-Ak. All health systems are strongly encouraged to adopt this series in your training programs; industry groups and professional societies, please encourage your members to do the same; and medtech, pharmaceutical, payer, health I.T., and services companies, please consider extending this series to your customers and clients as a supplement to your support.

About the Need for the “Cybersecurity for the Clinician” Video Series

Advances in networked healthcare technology and clinical workflows have created transformational opportunities in patient care and health care operations and services. Patients and professionals benefit from easy access to information and the ability to communicate, analyze, decide, and best track the health of individuals and populations.

However, cyber-attacks on this networked healthcare system continue to disrupt clinical operations including scheduling systems, the privacy of protected health information and financial data, and ultimately patient safety. As most cyber-attacks succeed through end-user deception or error, all those involved in the healthcare system, especially clinicians, must be aware of their responsibility to help secure data and systems from cyber exploitation. Indeed, healthcare cybersecurity is a shared challenge and thus a shared responsibility, even for those whose principal responsibility is patient care and healthcare quality.

Against this backdrop, security professionals in health systems are challenged to keep their clinicians aware of and trained about cybersecurity risks in their day-to-day environment. Constant non-clinical demands on clinicians’ time and attention can force training teams to short-cut training time and quality. Many larger hospital systems do maintain teams of security professionals to manage technical operations, but most health systems do not have enough resources dedicated to cybersecurity, allowing for the proper, routine training of clinical staff.

What is needed, particularly among smaller providers and academic institutions within the healthcare profession, are ready-made training resources that make tangible connections between good cybersecurity hygiene practices and real-world clinical situations. The “Cybersecurity for the Clinician” video series was produced for that purpose.

“Cybersecurity for the Clinician” is a free, public-service resource, without copyright, developed by the Health Sector Coordinating Council Cybersecurity Working Group – a coalition of healthcare providers, medical technology, pharmaceutical, payers and health IT companies working with the government to identify and mitigate cyber threats to the healthcare system.

Funding for the video production was generously donated by the Health Care Service Corporation (HCSC), a member-owned U.S. health insurance company, and the Health Information Sharing and Analysis Center (Health-ISAC), a global, non-profit, member-driven organization offering healthcare stakeholders a trusted community and forum for coordinating, collaborating and sharing vital physical and cyber threat intelligence and best practices with each other.

About the Health Sector Coordinating Council Cybersecurity Working Group

The Healthcare and Public Health Sector Coordinating Council (HSCC) is a coalition of private-sector critical healthcare infrastructure entities organized to partner with and advise the government to identify and mitigate strategic threats and vulnerabilities facing the sector’s ability to provide services and assets to the public. The HSCC Cybersecurity Working Group is composed of more than 400 industry and government organizations collaborating to develop strategies to combat emerging and ongoing cybersecurity challenges to the health sector.

Video Series Available at: https://healthsectorcouncil.org/cyberclinicianvideos/

For more information: https://HealthSectorCouncil.org

HSCC LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/health-sector-cyber-council/