Have you ever seen or even owned a fake item? A fake Rolex watch? Maybe a spurious Luis Vuitton handbag? Would you know how to recognise fake items? There might be certain visual clues, but would you know if the medicine you are taking is fake?

This is a featured post from our Stibo Systems Healthcare blog. 

Data security is a topic that’s splashed across headlines for every industry these days. While data is the source of great strategic power for the future of doing business, it’s also become the biggest threat, used as a tool by hackers to hold hostage and demand ransom to ensure its safe return. Like this year’s HIMSS17 conference focus on privacy and security, Stibo Systems Healthcare recognizes the great power and threat that constantly growing data pools present to every person and organization that touches the healthcare industry.

When you fall ill, all you want is to feel better fast. You want to be able to see your doctor quickly and get precise answers, hoping for a specific treatment that will bring life back to your body. In 2009, I fell extremely ill and was presented with symptoms consistent with Lyme’s Disease, Mononucleosis or Lupus. Tests were ordered, yet they came back negative. Blood work was drawn that showed high inflammatory markers and I was told, “We don’t know what you’re sick with, but we’ve got to get you well.” I thought to myself, this cannot be the best way of doing things. Were these tests accurate? Could additional tests be administered in search of an accurate diagnosis? Antibiotics are not a one size fits all cure. If we treated healthcare scenarios like we do other industries and established a true product lifecycle management process, physicians might be able to avoid the risk of losing the trust of their patients and make strides towards ensuring a proper diagnosis the first time.

Several thousands of attendees will alight upon Las Vegas Monday for HiMSS16 to…

learn (so many session choices)

network (don’t we all need more LinkedIn requests?)

eat (too much)

drink (some)

gamble (a little)

…depending on who you ask.

Can you imagine gambling with Patient Identity? It’s a scary proposition but it happens every day due to complex spellings, name variations, data entry errors and challenges with interoperability.