The digital healthcare evolution is leading to more and more highly innovative medical technology that helps to drive efficiency and patient outcomes. Machine Learning is changing clinical decision support, while digital transcription applications are saving physicians hours each week in record keeping (and at private hospitals helping them to get paid), while AI has revolutionized medical imaging, allowing for lower patient radiation dosages to be used and AI recognition of cellular mass changes vastly improving early identification of cancer and other medical conditions.
BUT this technology also adds to and expands the cyber attack surface. A proliferation of AI based medical applications and a tsunami of medical and other IoT devices is making security almost unmanageable across our hospitals. And that is before you even consider the exponential growth of personal health sensors, interactive devices, and mHealth initiatives or the portalization of physician-patient secure messaging, appointment bookings and lab result postings. In 2026 you no longer need to make an appointment to see your primary care physician to have him or her share your latest test results. In many cases the data is posted long before the physicians office will ever call you to let you know the results or to book an appointment.
While this is a global healthcare concern, the Gulf is seeing perhaps one of the world's most accelerated and dramatic expansions and modernization of healthcare services with hundreds of new systems and applications connected to medical networks every week, and new hospitals and clinics sprouting up on almost every corner. There is a revolution occurring here but neither governments or providers are prepared.
While this is a global healthcare concern, the Gulf is seeing perhaps one of the world's most accelerated and dramatic expansions and modernization of healthcare services with hundreds of new systems and applications connected to medical networks every week, and new hospitals and clinics sprouting up on almost every corner. There is a revolution occurring here but neither governments or providers are prepared.
The pace of technology adoption has outpaced the implementation of security tools and controls needed to protect that new technology from growing cyberattacks and data breaches. Some of this is plainly the result of the frenetic pace of adoption of new innovative tech and inadequate time or resources for security teams to keep up. But an increasing aspect of this "maturity gap" comes down to the out-of-date way in which technology and cybersecurity are perceived by executive healthcare leaders and government ministers. Rather than being seen as an integral part of the solution, an enabler of fantastic new medical services that will revolutionize patient care, they are seen as "a cost of doing business" or an "overhead" - necessary evil to host these new AI systems and applications, and this is perhaps why the maturity gap exists between our adoption of new technologies and the security needed to providers to safely use those technologies.
This was one of the topics of discussion at this years WHX Dubai conference where healthcare leaders from across the world gathered to put forward suggestions and recommendations for improving patient care, safety and outcomes through the smart security.
Joining me on stage at this prestigious event were Attila Hertelendy, Ph.D., Mike Fell, Charles Aunger and Zekeriya Eskiocak to share their vast knowledge and experience.
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