Brad Gallagher, co-leader of the Health Care Controversies and Pharmacy Teams, had his AXS26 Summit presentation, “Digital Danger Zone: Cybersecurity Essentials for Pharmacy and Healthcare Leaders,” covered by Specialty Pharmacy Continuum in “AXS26 Panel: Keep Cybersecurity Top of Mind.” Brad co-presented with Paige Clark, RPh, vice president of pharmacy programs and policy at Prescryptive Health, and their session covered the cybersecurity risks pharmacies face every day, such as ransomware attacks that disrupt e-prescribing and firewall breaches that expose protected health information.
Brad said pharmacies can better protect sensitive data by requiring multifactor authentication, encrypting patient data, and monitoring and auditing security logs for attempted intrusions. “At Barclay Damon, we focus on helping our clients prevent attacks. But if an attack occurs, we want to make sure any data a bad actor accesses is encrypted,” he said. He noted that a firewall breach that doesn’t lead to unauthorized access to protected PHI may not trigger reporting requirements. Even so, each incident should be evaluated on its specific facts, with legal counsel advising on any required notifications.
Brad also laid out a timeline for responding to an attack:
- Within an hour: Take affected systems offline and engage legal counsel.
- Within 24 hours: Determine whether PHI was accessed or compromised and, if needed, begin preparing required notices.
He stressed that guarding against human error is just as important. “Are we testing our employees in the right way?” he asked. “Sending a generic email once a year and requiring a 30-minute training is not enough; random testing of employees to see who is recognizing threats and who may need additional guidance is critical to understanding risk.”
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