For healthcare orgs, DR means making sure docs can save lives during ransomware infections

When IT disasters strike, it can become a matter of life and death for healthcare organizations – and criminals know it. We’re not exaggerating the risks: In 2024 a successful ransomware attack on a Texas trauma hospital saw it turn away ambulances - and that was just one of hundreds of known ransomware infections at US …

[An_Old_Dog]

The Ugly Truth

All the various hospitals I've visited or gotten care from in the last 20 years or so have stripped themselves of the ability to effectively provide service when their computers are down. They've migrated away from paper files, films, and mainframe-based systems to MS-Windows based Electronic Medical Records systems.

Having gotten rid of all that paper, they have repurposed the records storage rooms, and have nowhere (secure) to put printed-out medical tecords, even if they had a way to print them out quickly-enough, which they don't.

In the one EMR system I know some internal details of, they did not budget for alternate hardware. They may have a hot-site agreement of which I'm unaware.

Their primary weak point is their network. No comms, no data flow to/from their thin clients (Citrix) or from their realtime patient-monitoring systems.

[MachDiamond]

Re: The Ugly Truth

I'm a one-man show and have no problem servicing customers if the power/network is off at my home office. While I do put data into an electronic job sheet, it mimics my paper job sheets that I keep on hand for times when the computer is unavailable. I've never felt comfortable having everything so tied to the computer that I'm dead in the water if something happens. I can also keep forms with me so if I get a call while I'm out in the field for another job, I can grab a form and fill out the information that I will need. It's a good prompt so I don't forget to ask about something. My mobe is a handy comms back up in case my home internet is down or wobbly. I can even drive someplace that has good signal and, using my laptop, send data and media to my customers. I've had to do that before and know where the cell towers are in my general area. To my customers, any backup regime is transparent.

Any good hospital needs to have a way to track all of the things that need tracking so patients can be helped and something as basic as a medication schedule isn't a total gonner when somebody on staff clicks the wrong link and infects the whole enterprise since nobody thought to section off various operational aspects of the network.

[Gene Cash]

Re: The Ugly Truth

> Any good hospital

Let me know when you run into one of those. I haven't seen one in years.

[ChrisElvidge]

Disabling payment/billing systems should not stop doctors and nurses doing their jobs.

[Anonymous Coward]

Depends on the country. I've heard that in Trumpistan if you've got no money you don't get healthcare. Also, you got the healthcare you've paid for.

On the other hand, in those European commies countries with those pesky socialist systems, you get (at least emergency) healthcare, regardless of your fortune.

[collinsl]

Hospitals in the USA are not allowed to turn away people from their emergency rooms for lack of funds if they need lifesaving care, but they absolutely will 100% a) transfer you to another facility at the first possible moment and 2) pursue you for the bill for your care with them until the ends of the earth.