HEALTH
IT
125
pumps, hackers can control the device and change patient dosag-
es, a potentially lethal situation.
e threat of hacking medical devices has very real ramifi-
cations. In 2007, former Vice President Dick Cheney's physician
disabled his pacemaker's wireless capabilities, including the abil-
ity for physicians to fix the pacemaker virtually. He did so as a
precautionary measure to thwart any attempt of assassination by
means of hacking the pacemaker.
Jonathan Reiner, MD, Vice President Cheney's cardiologist,
said in a CBS interview alongside Vice President Cheney that the
threat was credible.
"It seemed to me to be a bad idea for the vice president to
have a device that maybe somebody on a rope line or in the next
hotel room or downstairs might be able to hack into," he said in
the interview.
is new, connected healthcare environment may be a boon
to care quality, but it inevitably comes with risks. While cyberat-
tacks aren't unique to healthcare, this industry is highly targeted,
and cybersecurity investments and strategies are becoming neces-
sary to function in this landscape.
"It's going to be an [increased] cost of doing business," Mr.
Comyns says. "It's a cultural change for companies. It's a different
way of thinking." n
BECKER'S
7
th
Annual
Meeting
2016
April
27-30,
2016
|
Hyatt
Regency,
Chicago
Register
at
http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/conference/
Come
hear
from
keynotes,
former
president,
George
W.
Bush,
Dr.
John
H.
Nosworthy,
CEO
of
Mayo
Clinic
&
Dr.
David
Feinberg,
CEO
of
Geisinger
Health
