Medical devices under threat from hackers

Patient information isnow worth more than credit card data on the dark web and hackers are increasingly using medical devices to infiltrate hospital networks. A clinical engineering conference, hosted by the National Performance Advisory Group (NPAG), highlighted the threat posed to Trusts’ cyber security. Louise Frampton reports.

There is a major drive towards digitalisation within the NHS and Trusts will increasingly be scrutinised on their ‘digital maturity’ in the next few years – putting cyber security and IT connectivity at the top of the agenda. The aim is for patients to be able to access their own electronic health records, adding personal data from devices such as FitBit and enabling two-way interaction. At the same time, hospital-based monitoring devices are increasingly being linked directly into patients’ electronic patient records, with a view to becoming ‘paper-free at the point of care’. 

Digital technologies and connected devices have the opportunity to increase efficiency and transform care for patients, but there are also challenges ahead for clinical engineers. Against a back-drop of increasing connectivity, digitalisation and interoperability, clinical engineers will need to increase their knowledge of IT networks, as well as cyber security for linked medical devices.