Data breaches have troubled the U.S. market for a long time, but healthcare providers are the worst affected. According to the HIPAA journal, there were at least 342 healthcare security breaches reported to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in 2017.
Whether it’s retail, hospitality, restaurants or any other industry, the importance of having an omni-channel strategy is gaining traction among business owners. As consumers adapt to new technologies and begin to experience innovative payment experiences, they start expecting it in all environments, including healthcare providers.
“Omni-channel” has become a buzz word in retail, but it’s a concept with wide potential across many industries, including healthcare. Omni-channel, also known as multi-channel, is about being able to interact with customers through multiple communication channels. These include face-to-face or in-facility (in-store), mobile and online interactions. Omni-channel is also a means of providing customers with a seamless, consistent experience across all channels, which helps ensure outstanding service and builds loyalty.
The healthcare industry has recently seen a host of breaches, non-compliance, and other frustrations relating to security, regulatory, and related compliance obligations inherent in receiving payments from patients via modern financial obligations, such as deductibles, co-payments, and other self-pay obligations, make up a larger portion of a healthcare provider’s balance sheets.
Data breaches have plagued the U.S. market for a long time. Within the healthcare industry, providers are the worst affected. According to the HIPAA journal, 329 data breaches were reported in 2016, in which over 16 million records were exposed. Based on IBM’s Cost of Data Breach Study, healthcare organizations have an average cost of $355 per stolen record. That would put the total cost of 2016’s data breaches at a staggering $5.6 billion. Apart from compromising healthcare records, these data breaches can also involve a provider’s payment infrastructure. If these systems are not secure, sensitive payment data can also be stolen, which inevitably leads to fraud.
