Mobile device security: Health IT execs discuss their strategies

The following is an excerpt from an article published in the FierceHealthIT's eBook "Best Practices for Securing Your Mobile Network." Download the eBook here to read more.

For executives in charge of mobile device and network security at hospitals and health systems, many factors must be taken into consideration. Employees increasingly are bringing in their own mobile devices, tools that can get lost or stolen, and hackers continue to find new ways to illegally access systems.

The latter, especially, worries Tom Barnett, vice president for health information technology at NorthShore University HealthSystem.

"Every time we put a policy in place or we get the right combination of systems out there, it's like building a 10-foot wall to protect our health system," he says. "But then the very next day, the bad guys have shown up with an 11-foot ladder."

The best strategy, according to Barnett, is to stay vigilant and aware of how the threat landscape is evolving, and to make sure to adjust for those changes all the time. It's all about being current, he says.

So how are healthcare systems keeping the bad guys out and protecting patients? 

There's no single right answer or step to take in an industry that stores a person's most private information, and in a field in which the use of technology--especially mobile devices--is growing at an astounding rate.

To read the rest of this and other articles, download FierceHealthIT's free eBook, "Best Practices for Securing Your Mobile Network."