Safety

As the opioid crisis continues to devastate communities across the United States, digital health services have emerged as a beacon of hope for increasing access to essential addiction treatment and recovery support. However, the promise of these digital platforms is marred by significant privacy and security concerns that threaten the very fabric of effective addiction healthcare.

The following provides a summary based on a new investigative report from the Opioid Policy Institute. Their report delves into the critical aspects of privacy and security that individuals should consider when using digital services for the purchase of opioids and seeks to provide guidance on navigating these digital landscapes safely.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has announced that Medtronic identified a cybersecurity vulnerability in its Paceart Optima System, a platform that manages cardiac device data. This vulnerability is linked to an optional messaging feature. CISA has advised healthcare organizations to liaise with Medtronic's technical support for system updates and to minimize network exposure by potentially taking systems offline. This action is especially crucial for entities operating a joint application and integration server. When necessary, the use of secure virtual private networks is recommended. This alert follows last year's FBI report that flagged multiple cybersecurity vulnerabilities in medical devices, emphasizing the potential risks to patient safety and healthcare operations.

In the field of archival science, the term 'inherent vice' refers to the internal qualities or elements of certain objects that make them naturally prone to deterioration, regardless of the quality of care they receive (Menne-Haritz, 1993). When applying this concept to personal health information management (PHIM), it becomes a metaphor for the challenges that are inherently present in managing health information.