Bluefin's Point-to-Point Encryption for CharmHealth

It is hard to ignore how much the digital world has influenced the healthcare industry. Technology now intersects with every aspect of healthcare - from patient care, to practice management, to multiple and evolving payment options for patients - and this significant transformation reveals that integrated payment healthcare companies are emerging as key players in this arena. These companies are providing healthcare organizations streamlined solutions that combine medical services with seamless payment processes to:

•    Enhance patient experience
•    Optimize revenue cycle management with automated billing
•    Ensure compliance with regulatory requirements
•    Provide cost savings and efficiency gains
•    Gain valuable data analytics
•    Foster collaboration across the healthcare ecosystem

By embracing integrated payments, healthcare providers can modernize their financial operations, drive efficiency gains, and deliver high-quality, patient-centered care in an increasingly digital and interconnected healthcare landscape.

Sensitive Data - A Treasure Trove for Hackers

With all the benefits integrated payments provide, there are challenges to keep sensitive and financial data safe. Unfortunately, the healthcare industry is all too familiar with how valuable this data is to hackers.

Since 2020, healthcare data breach costs have increased 53.3%, and for the 13th year in a row, in 2023 the healthcare industry reported the most expensive data breaches of all industries, at an average cost of USD 10.93 million.  - IBM 2023 Cost of Data breach report

As of the first week of March, 116 healthcare data breaches have been reported to the HHS Office of Civil Rights (OCR) in 2024, impacting over 13 million individuals, with hacking and IT incidents being the most common breach types at healthcare systems across the United States.

Because of the large amounts of valuable data being stored - personal health information (PHI), personal identifiable information (PII) and financial data- the healthcare vertical is highly targeted by ransomware gangs, which results in both the loss of use of their systems— potentially with life- threatening consequences—as well as data breaches. So, as healthcare organizations look to adopt integrated payment solutions, the importance of robust payment and data security measures cannot be ignored.

Common Threats and Best Security Practices

There are several common threats that organizations and individuals face when it comes to safeguarding personal information. Data breaches, phishing attacks, third-party risks, malware, and ransomware are some of the most common external threats organizations face. Inside the walls of an organization, outdated software and systems, weak authentication and access controls, and lack of data encryption increase the likelihood of sensitive data falling into the wrong hands.

Security experts believe that data encryption is vital for organizations to implement, protecting all sensitive data in transit and at rest. When data is encrypted, even if an unauthorized person or entity gains access to it, they will not be able to read it. Data encryption also helps organizations to meet compliance requirements with privacy regulations.

Additionally, the protection of PII is exceptionally important for any organization that processes debit or credit card transactions, in fact, securing PII is a legal obligation. These organizations need to follow the standards and guidelines set by the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCI SSC).

The PCI SSC recommends the gold standard in data encryption – PCI-validated point-to-point encryption (P2PE). Utilizing PCI P2PE solutions secure data throughout its lifecycle, ensuring that data is rendered useless in the event of a data breach while keeping organizations PCI-compliant.

P2PE for CharmHealth Clients

As the first PCI-validated provider of a P2PE solution in 2014, Bluefin partnered with MedicalMine, Inc. to provide CharmHealth clients secure, integrated payment processing. This partnership allows CharmHealth clients the ability to secure sensitive data, reduce PCI scope, and protect their brand.

Bluefin’s PCI-validated P2PE solution encrypts cardholder data at the Point of Interaction (POI) in a PCI-approved P2PE device and decryption is done off-site in an approved Bluefin Hardware Security Module (HSM). The solution prevents clear-text cardholder data from being present in a healthcare organization’s system or network where it could be accessible in the event of a data breach - allowing CharmHealth clients to process payments and post refunds – all within your CharmHealth software.

See the benefits of Bluefin’s P2PE solutions here.