Networked medical devices and other mobile health technologies are a true double-edged sword: They have the potential to play a transformational role in health care but also may be a vehicle that exposes patients and health care organizations to safety and security risks.
In today’s increasingly connected healthcare landscape, hundreds of thousands of medical devices such as patient monitors, infusion pumps, ventilators, and imaging modalities – many of which are life-sustaining or life-supporting – currently reside on hospital networks across the world. Even more medical devices are accessible via wireless technologies, for example, insulin pumps and pacemakers.