The new Hospital Future Act offers an opportunity for more data protection in the healthcare sector. This is how the consequences of the ECJ ruling on the EU-US Privacy Shield can be cushioned. A statement from Ralf Koenzen, founder and managing director of LANCOM Systems.
When the European Court of Justice overturned the Privacy Shield data protection agreement between the EU and the USA on July 16, the concrete consequences were initially difficult to foresee. In the meantime, however, it has been established that the ECJ has not only put an extensive stop to the legal transfer of personal data to the USA, but that the use of many US cloud solutions is also illegal with immediate effect.
Hospitals and clinics under pressure to act
Due to the changed legal situation, not only companies, but also hospitals and clinics are under pressure to act. From simple office applications to the electronic patient file (EPR) to AI-supported diagnosis: Cloud services are increasingly optimizing processes in the inpatient area. This also applies to the clinic WiFi. The wireless network forms the basic infrastructure for almost all digital applications and thus continuously transports highly sensitive patient data. Management and monitoring of WLAN networks are based on the cloud in many hospitals.
According to the ECJ ruling, clinics that rely on US solutions must now carry out a careful risk analysis, develop migration strategies and, if necessary, invest in new infrastructure. This is the only way to ensure the GDPR-compliant handling of patient data and the required patient data sovereignty.
Hospital Future Act: Investment boost in digitization
In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, this is affecting the health sector in an already extremely stressful situation. It is therefore all the more important that the federal and state governments now support hospitals and clinics with a considerable investment boost in digitization.
The Hospital Future Act (KHZG) provides a total of 4,3 billion euros for the introduction and modernization of digital processes and infrastructures as well as for strengthening cybersecurity and data protection. This is an important step towards ensuring the quality of health care in Germany in the long term and structurally anchoring the elementary right of patients to data sovereignty and informational self-determination.
Eligible projects must provide IT security and be GDPR-compliant
Projects are only eligible for funding if they include at least 15 percent of the investment in IT security and are demonstrably GDPR-compliant. This clear requirement offers an enormous opportunity: Houses that identify applications or processes that are critical under data protection law as part of their risk analysis can finance the switch to secure, GDPR-compliant offers from the funds of the KHGZ. Solutions from providers in Germany and Europe, for example, are subject to European data protection standards due to their origin and do not involve the risk of possible access by third countries.
Patients, their health and their data deserve the greatest possible care and protection, after all, this extremely sensitive information offers enormous potential for abuse. Together we have to ensure that digitalization is also and especially designed responsibly in the healthcare sector! With the support of the Hospital Future Act, clinics and hospitals can take a decisive step forward here.
More on this at LANCOM-Systems.de
About LANCOM Systems
LANCOM Systems GmbH is a leading European manufacturer of network and security solutions for business and administration. The portfolio includes hardware (WAN, LAN, WLAN, firewalls), virtual network components and cloud-based software-defined networking (SDN). Software and hardware development and production take place mainly in Germany, as does the hosting of the network management. Particular attention is paid to trustworthiness and security. The company is committed to ensuring that its products are backdoor-free and bears the “IT Security Made in Germany” quality mark initiated by the Federal Ministry of Economics. LANCOM was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in Würselen near Aachen. Customers include SMEs, authorities, institutions and large corporations from all over the world. The company has been an independent subsidiary of the Munich technology group Rohde & Schwarz since summer 2018.