Health Care Industry Cybersecurity Task Force Report Identifies Imperatives for Reform

Several media organizations this week published a pre-release copy of the report of the Health Care Industry Cybersecurity Task Force established pursuant to the Cybersecurity Act of 2015. The report, written by a 21-member public-private group selected by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), identifies six "imperatives" for improving cybersecurity in the health care sector, with groups of concrete recommendations for action under each imperative.

Describing cybersecurity as "a key public health concern that needs immediate and aggressive attention," the report describes a number of factors contributing to the critical state of health care cybersecurity, including the rapid move by many health care providers to electronic health record (EHR) systems—a transition incentivized by government subsidies—and the absence of a central regulatory authority with responsibility for cybersecurity across the health care industry. The six imperatives and some of the