Policy & Value-Based Care

CHIME Creates a New Cybersecurity Center and Program Office

May 31, 2016

CHIME announces the creation of a Cybersecurity Center and Program Office with the intention of helping to improve information-sharing and collaboratively develop and spread best practices around cybersecurity

Mark Hagland

On Tuesday, May 31, the Ann Arbor, Mich.-based College of Healthcare Information executives (CHIME) announced the creation of a new CHIME Cybersecurity Center and Program Office.

According to a press release from the association, “The center will lead efforts to improve information sharing, develop and spread best practices, and encourage greater collaboration across the industry and with federal agencies.”

The press release quoted CHIME leaders, including president and CEO Russell Branzell. In a statement, Branzell said, “Cyber threats are becoming more sophisticated and more dangerous every day. Today the focus is ransomware, tomorrow it will be something else. As an industry, we need to pull together and share what’s working so that we can effectively safeguard our systems and protect patients.”

According to the announcement, “The CHIME Cybersecurity Center will pull from resources inside and outside of healthcare to develop best practices. It will also build on existing partnerships with federal agencies and other organizations. CHIME and Association for Executives in Healthcare Information Security (AEHIS) members will serve as advisors to the center and the industry. CHIME staff will operate the program office, with assistance from member volunteers.”

The release also quoted David Finn, a CHIME board member who is health information technology officer at Symantec Crop., and who is a member of the Department of Health and Human Services’ health Care Industry Cybersecurity Task Force. “It is absolutely critical that we have collaboration across the industry,” Finn said. “We talk frequently about sharing cyber data, but if that data isn’t meaningful to those receiving it, if data can’t be turned into useful intelligence, there is no real advantage to sharing. We need to make cyber information useful. We need to have clear direction on how to protect information across the continuum of care. It is like a chain; the strength of our security is only as good as the weakest link.”