Page 5 - SOUTH FLORIDA HOPSITAL NEWS APRIL 2022

Malpractice Insurance Let’s Connect:

EXPERT ADVICE
ACHE of South Florida Spotlight

Increasing Cyberattacks Driving

Up Cyber Insurance Rates Cover Story: ACHE of South Florida
Member Spotlight: Arianna Silcott Lo
BY VANESSA ORR trol for the last year, but now
we have the Russians making Continued from page 1
It is imperative that cyberattack threats, and pro-
healthcare companies carry grams with zero-click vulner- In addition to working in the U.S. healthcare system for a number of years, Silcott Lo
cyber insurance; after all, abilities,” said Gracey. “These also spent two years during her healthcare fellowship working in the government sector
protecting patients’ medical are really nasty programs, for British Overseas Healthcare Services.
records is of the utmost such as SolarWinds and Silcott Lo joined the Orlando chapter of ACHE in 2012, and switched to the South
importance. Unfortunately, Pegasus, where there is no Florida chapter after she moved to the area in 2017.
as the threat of cyberat- action needed on the user’s “I joined for the networking and educational opportunities, and was very active with
tacks, including malware part for cyber criminals to the Student Services Committee as a member,” said Silcott Lo. “I served on that commit-
and ransomware increases, enter into their system. tee for four years, helping out while earning my master’s degree. I also took part in the
so do the rates for this “Layer all of this together, essay competition for the South Florida chapter, which I won!”
essential coverage. Matt Gracey and it shows how vulnerable In her role as chair-elect, Silcott Lo plans to continue helping the chapter’s younger
“We are now seeing our we have become and how members and is currently working on the upcoming case competition April 9 and a
healthcare clients face cyber insurance important it is to make sure that the career development event to be held on April 21.
renewal rate increases of between 45-90 defenses we do have are up and function- “We are hosting a student development career panel where we will be discussing alter-
percent,” explained Matt Gracey, manag- ing as fully as possible,” he added. native ways of getting into healthcare, whether through fellowships, as early careerists,
ing director, Risk Strategies / Danna- Gracey advises companies to focus on or through consulting positions, for example,” she explained. “There are many other
Gracey. “Within the last three to four Cyber Hygiene 101—making sure they routes outside of a hospital fellowship to get into the field, though we will also discuss
months, this coverage has gone complete- have installed effective anti-virus pro- that route and how to succeed.”
ly crazy with much higher pricing, much grams with strong passwords, and check- Silcott Lo advises those interested in a healthcare career to join ACHE early, as mem-
more restrictive underwriting and more ing that their cybersecurity is updated. bership can help at every stage of the journey.
requirements placed on clients—like hav- “Many practices install good cyber secu- “I 100 percent use what I’ve learned at ACHE in my everyday life,” she said. “It helps
ing multifactor authentication now as a rity but forget to update the systems,” he me keep up-to-date on what different organizations are doing—for example, pre-COVID,
base requirement for coverage—in prac- said. “This is critically important to pro- during COVID and after.
tices of every size. tecting yourself from cyber criminals.” “I learn a lot from the educational events about what the healthcare landscape looks
“This was happening even before the As cyber threats continue to rise, so will like and where I can play a part,” she added.
Russia/Ukraine situation and increasingly the cost of insurance coverage.
high threats of Russian cyberattacks on “Cyber insurance companies are in
America,” he added. “Healthcare is the uncharted territory because there is not Visit us on the web at
www.southfloridahospitalnews.com
number one attacked industry in the enough good actuarial data on cyberat- www.southfloridahospitalnews.com
cyberattack world, and we have to consid- tacks to be able to make sound forecasts of
er the fact that we could face severe dis- where the rates should be in order to han-
ruptions in its delivery.” dle the risk exposure,” said Gracey. “It’s

satisfaction
Gracey noted that in 2017, hospitals in not like we have 50 years of automobile
o Y

England and Scotland had to shut down accident data, which makes it easy to our pa t ients’
emergency room care as the result of determine the monetary risk. In the cyber

. .

cyberattacks caused by WannaCry ran- world, there is no credible data to decide isn’t a number
somware. “And those were more ‘normal’ what we’re facing and what the rates for
s
times,” he said. “These are extraordinarily coverage should be. It’ s an
fearful times in the cyber-warfare world.” “Five years ago, experts predicted that

In the past, the healthcare industry was cyber insurance for healthcare would experience .
mainly concerned with ransomware, but become more expensive than malpractice
cyber experts are now predicting that ran- insurance,” he added. “I’m afraid we’re
somware attacks will decrease while more now seeing a march toward that trend.”
broad attacks designed to create havoc in
the healthcare system will increase. For more information, contact Matt
“To complicate the picture, not only Gracey at 800-966-2120 or
have ransomware attacks been out of con- visit www.dannagracey.com.

Smart hospitals and practices
are switching to iCare.

Not all EHRs are the same. iCare runs
in the cloud so you don’t need servers,
a data center, or a large support staff,
and you will never worry about Everything we do is to help you with
ransomware attacks.
your #1 goal: quality paatient car . e
iCare is always on, always current, and F rom the gown patients pput on before
always less costly than your current
EHR. they receive care , to our vast array of
v
Contact us today and let iCare help high-quality products and remarkable www .imagefir st.com
w.
squeeze the high costs out of running services . ImageFIRST is your partner for
your healthcare business!
all of your healthcare linen rental and
laundry needs .

Call 800-932-7472 or email info@imagefir st.com to find out mor . e

South Florida Hospital News southfloridahospitalnews.com April 2022 5