Healthcare Regulatory Compliance and Tech Point to the Need for Scalable Cybersecurity Expertise

This blog post examines how evolving healthcare regulatory compliance expectations, emerging technologies, and escalating cyberthreats are creating demand for specialized cybersecurity expertise in the healthcare sector.

In brief:

• Healthcare breaches are skyrocketing: 275 million patient records were exposed in 2024 (63.5 percent increase from 2023), with $12.8 million in penalties from federal regulators.
• Ransomware attacks on healthcare organizations drop patient volume by 20 percent and emergency care revenue by 40 percent in the first week alone.
• Multiple overlapping regulations create compliance complexity and require specialized expertise.
• Healthcare cybersecurity demands unique skills. Professionals need both technical expertise and a deep understanding of clinical workflows, medical devices, and healthcare-specific compliance frameworks.
• Fractional chief information security officers (CISOs), project-based support, and ongoing advisory services provide healthcare-focused expertise without full-time hiring costs and talent scarcity challenges.

The number of records exposed by healthcare cybersecurity incidents has skyrocketed. In 2024, 275 million records were exposed in the U.S. — a 63.5 percent increase over 2023. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) doesn’t take these breaches lightly. In 2024, they handed out over $12.8 million in penalties. This surge in attacks underscores the vital need for healthcare regulatory compliance.

Healthcare’s unique regulatory environment and operational complexity result in specialized demands for a cybersecurity workforce. The combination of changing regulatory requirements, new technology, and evolving threats is forcing forward-thinking healthcare organizations to establish scalable cyber expertise.

The stakes couldn’t be higher. Patient safety, the organization’s reputation, and its financial survival all depend on a robust cyber defense infrastructure — with experts at the helm.

As healthcare organizations navigate complex compliance requirements from HIPAA modernization, state privacy laws, FDA medical device regulations, and artificial intelligence (AI) governance frameworks, they also face a shortage of cybersecurity professionals who understand both healthcare operations and regulatory intricacies. The piece explores the unique drivers behind this talent demand and positions scalable, role-based consulting as a strategic solution.

The Healthcare Cybersecurity Landscape: A Perfect Storm

A single breach can yield a huge bounty of data for a threat actor ready to sell on the dark web. Because healthcare organizations access vast amounts of personal and sensitive data, this data can be exploited for various other types of breaches, such as identity theft and online financial attacks.

Since there’s such a glaring set of crosshairs on patient data, both their privacy and safety are at risk. Threat actors are quick to build ransomware attacks, using a data breach as a foundation. Once they steal patient data, they use this to encrypt mission-critical systems, including those that facilitate patient care. They then demand payment, refusing to release decryption instructions until they’ve strong-armed their funds.

The financial impacts are staggering. A study found that during the first week of a ransomware attack, patient volume drops by 20 percent, and revenue plummets along with it. For example, in emergency care settings, revenue dropped by 40 percent.

The tantalizing draw of healthcare data and systems for threat actors is only one challenge. Alongside it are:

• 24/7 patient care requirements with zero downtime expectations
• Technical issues, such as modernizing legacy systems and integrating medical and Internet of Things (IoT) devices
• Integrating tools with clinicians’ workflows without sacrificing security
• Overlapping compliance frameworks, consisting of federal, state and international requirements
• Ever-changing regulations and enforcement methods

Let’s discuss some of those regulatory changes and how they affect the healthcare workforce.

Regulatory Drivers Creating Specialized Workforce Demands

Regulators need to protect the general digital infrastructure of their jurisdictions. So, they establish increasingly stringent requirements that invariably significantly affect how healthcare organizations operate.

Here are some of the most pressing regulatory drivers impacting healthcare organizations today:

HIPAA Evolution and Modernization

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is evolving and leading the way in healthcare regulations. As mentioned above, the OCR, which is responsible for enforcing HIPAA, has tightened their oversight and levied substantial penalties against organizations.

My colleague and cybersecurity expert Bethany Deeds says, “The proposed 2025 HIPAA Security Rule updates are game-changing. They’re removing the distinction between ‘required’ and ‘addressable’ safeguards, making all security measures effectively mandatory. Organizations can no longer pick and choose which controls to implement.”

In addition to penalties, organizations have to comply with regulations regarding:

• Security Risk Assessments. Organizations must conduct ongoing security risk assessments to identify and analyze risks, as well as develop mitigation strategies.
• Business Associate Agreements (BAAs). Healthcare organizations must demand stringent risk management systems from third-party providers they work with.
• Breach Notification Requirements. Healthcare organizations need to not only deal with breaches internally but also report them in a timely manner.
• Incident Response Expectations. Each organization needs to have a team in place that is capable of addressing issues quickly and in compliance with relevant requirements.

State Privacy Laws and Healthcare

State laws require additional attention because they may necessitate even tighter data protection systems.

To illustrate, let’s say a visitor to a hospital uses their Wi-Fi, and HIPAA regulations bind the hospital. The visitor visits some somewhat embarrassing sites — for their own personal reasons — but their browsing data doesn’t contain any personal health information at all. HIPAA doesn’t expressly state that the person has a right to demand that the hospital delete their browsing data because it doesn’t contain any personal health information.

On the other hand, suppose the hospital must also comply with the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). The CCPA stipulates that individuals have the right to demand that hospitals delete their browsing data.

If the hospital’s information technology (IT) team isn’t aware of the nuanced difference between HIPAA and CCPA regarding browsing data, they may deny the person their rights and fall out of compliance with CCPA.

Avoiding these kinds of landmines requires knowledgeable staff that specializes in the details of each state’s regulations.

FDA Medical Device Cybersecurity Mandates

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued mandates regarding premarket and postmarket device management. From a premarket perspective, the manufacturer must submit a software bill of materials that shows each device’s software components and their associated vulnerabilities.

In a postmarket context, the manufacturer must constantly issue patches to ensure devices are safe for clinical use. Medical device cybersecurity can also reduce the risk of breaches or attacks that impact patient safety.

Emerging AI and Digital Health Regulations

With the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence, governments and regulatory bodies are developing regulations to prevent AI from causing more harm than good. For instance, the European Union (EU) has introduced regulations aimed at mitigating the risks associated with high-risk AI systems. From a healthcare standpoint, an AI tool such as an automated imagery analyzer that helps diagnose disease based on image analysis would be considered high risk.

As a result, the system would need to be trained on high-quality data, particularly data that won’t introduce biases to the AI’s conclusions. Human oversight may be another concern because allowing the system to run with full autonomy could lead to harmful decisions. Failing to keep humans in the loop could put an organization out of compliance with EU regulations.

Technology Transformation Amplifying Security Complexity

Digital transformations can improve the quality of care and boost efficiency. At the same time, they can also introduce cybersecurity challenges. For instance:

• Cloud migration and hybrid environments can raise data residency and sovereignty issues that must be consistently addressed with each cloud provider.
• Digital health and interoperability can become a problem if the application programming interfaces (APIs) that organizations use don’t integrate the proper authentication and encryption systems needed to protect data.
• Medical and IoT device integration can introduce vulnerabilities, especially since some devices have outdated security systems or use factory default passwords, such as “admin.”
• AI and machine learning (ML) implementations can be problematic because some models are vulnerable to data poisoning assaults in which a third party alters or corrupts the data used to train an AI model. This can result in inaccurate patient diagnoses.

The Healthcare Cybersecurity Talent Gap

Cybersecurity in healthcare is a distinct entity compared to other industries. And that includes other heavily regulated sectors, such as finance and banking.

“Healthcare cybersecurity professionals need a unique blend of technical breadth, hands-on healthcare experience, and regulatory insight that few professionals possess concurrently. Most cybersecurity professionals are trained in general IT, not the regulatory and clinical nuances of healthcare,” Deeds says.

Here are some of the key differentiating factors that make healthcare cybersecurity unique.

Cyber Experts Need to Have Unique Skills and Certifications

The skills needed to navigate the healthcare regulatory compliance landscape are the bare minimum. Healthcare cybersecurity professionals also need to understand the intricate workflows involved in providing treatment and how to mitigate their risk.

For instance, a single database containing sensitive health information can provide back-end services to multiple IoT devices simultaneously. While some devices may already have adequate encryption in place, others may not. This means sensitive information may be traveling between the device and the database completely unencrypted. A cyber professional needs to know how to identify and address these kinds of issues.

“Healthcare organizations face a unique challenge. They need cybersecurity professionals who understand the technical controls and how those controls interact with clinical workflows and patient care delivery. A security measure that works in banking might completely disrupt a life-saving medical procedure,” Deeds says.

To validate the necessary skills, many organizations require cybersecurity pros to have healthcare-specific certifications. For example, the Healthcare Information Security and Privacy Practitioner (HCISPP) confirms that a practitioner is capable of implementing and managing security controls for a healthcare organization.

Another popular option is the Certified HIPAA Professional (CHP) certification. This demonstrates the holder’s ability to design and implement security protections that specifically align with HIPAA requirements.

Workforce Development Challenges

Healthcare isn’t the only sector competing for talented cybersecurity professionals. Competing with businesses in the finance, defense, and insurance sectors can be challenging, especially when they have substantial budgets and attractive benefits.

Some healthcare businesses are also located in rural areas or areas far removed from universities and companies that tend to produce highly talented cyber experts. The local talent pool can be small, further intensifying the competition for qualified experts.

However, it’s equally important not to shrink back when faced with staffing issues. The cost of inadequate talent can be detrimental to a facility’s finances and reputation. Oversights can lead to expensive breaches, patient harm, regulatory fines and more.

Strategic Solutions: Specialized Cybersecurity Consulting

Unique challenges need a unique solution. Recognizing this unavoidable reality, many organizations are opting for specialized healthcare cybersecurity consulting. Here are some strategic solutions to consider:

The Case for Healthcare-Focused Cybersecurity Consulting

Opting for healthcare cybersecurity consulting provides you with top-notch, specialized expertise at a lower cost. Staffing an in-house team with a comparable level of expertise would cost more.

On the other hand, a consulting firm specializing in healthcare IT security gives you seasoned vets who specialize in healthcare regulatory compliance and data protection. Additionally, you receive a scalable solution. For example, if you have a HIPAA compliance audit on the horizon, you can engage a team of consultants to get you ready for it and use them to help you pass.

Fractional CISO and Advisory Services

A fractional chief information security officer (CISO) gives your team cyber leadership and guides you through complicated compliance issues. They also help you manage risk across your on-premises and cloud environments by designing and implementing mitigation tools and strategies.

“Fractional CISOs often go beyond assessment and planning. They directly implement security policies, oversee remediation projects, and enhance system protections,” Deeds says. “Unlike traditional consultants, they ensure recommendations become reality and compliance outcomes are achieved.”

By engaging with a fractional CISO, you can check off a long list of cybersecurity concerns specific to your organization — without having to hire recruiters to try to pull a CISO from the clutches of a financial organization or another healthcare competitor.

Project-Based and Program Support

Instead of hiring a team of healthcare IT security experts on an ongoing basis, you can bring them on for specific projects or programs.

For example, suppose you haven’t completed a HIPAA risk assessment in over six months. Getting your team together, briefing them on the most recent HIPAA requirements, and setting up a governance system for the endeavor can be daunting.

Instead, you can hire a team of consultants to handle it for you. They already have the systems in place, understand the intricacies of HIPAA, and have a wealth of experience aligning systems with healthcare regulatory compliance expectations.

Ongoing Support Models

Healthcare cybersecurity involves an ongoing commitment to data stewardship and sustained, systemic compliance. For this reason, successful healthcare organizations frequently collaborate with expert consultants regularly. Your consultant team provides:

• Tailored security awareness training for clinical and administrative staff
• Ongoing evaluation of your environment for vulnerabilities
• Threat intelligence to help your cyber team prevent attacks
• Guidance around regulatory changes that may impact your organization

Engage With Healthcare Cybersecurity Experts for Scalable, Reliable Protections

While the challenges in healthcare cybersecurity are unique, they can be met. Even if you have tight budgetary constraints, working with expert cybersecurity consultants can help ensure your organization reduces its risk and is prepared for a wide variety of healthcare regulatory compliance issues.

Whenever you need to tackle a specific project, you can scale your team up and scale back upon completion. And consultants can meet ongoing needs by constantly evaluating your system for potential issues, training your staff, and keeping you a step ahead of regulators.

To navigate healthcare cybersecurity with confidence, connect with our Cybersecurity experts today. Contact us