The pandemic and quarantine measures prompted a growth in telemedicine as well as a general increase in the usage of digital technologies across the board. However, if cybersecurity and data protection are not given top priority in the technological infrastructures of the healthcare industry and medical device manufacturers, the possibility of the exposure of private medical data severely jeopardizes patient privacy. Personal information, medical history, test and treatment results, and other crucial data are just a few of the vital pieces of information at risk. So, safeguarding patient privacy plays a key role in the digital transformation of the healthcare industry, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

Elia Garcia, Medical Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “The foundation of digital health is the use of technical platforms that store and transfer data, including electronic medical records that consolidate patient health data and make it available to all healthcare professionals. Some of the medical devices are made to be able to communicate with one another via the Internet and send patient data. Examples include pacemakers, home monitoring systems, and blood glucose monitors, which offer significant advantages such as providing details on the patient’s health status, individualized monitoring, and the adjustment and administration of medicines.”

Medtronic, a well-known manufacturer of medical devices, is currently involved in a legal battle over allegations that it exchanged a sizable amount of patient data on diabetes with tech giant Google. The healthcare industry has been surprised by this big news. The lawsuit accuses Medtronic of breaking patient confidentiality and raises significant difficulties with data privacy in the medical sector.

Garcia concludes: “Strengthening the legal and regulatory frameworks that control data protection is essential, and this can be done by defining and improving national or international standards that specify how companies should behave themselves. To promote patient trust in digital health, it is essential that patients feel their data is secure. And because of this, medical organizations and businesses need to see cybersecurity and data protection as critical elements of daily operations.”