Question
How are respiratory therapists immersed in technology?
Answer
As an expert in cybersecurity, my goal is protections analogous to this to help protect you in cyberspace, using your computer, protecting your data, and a different kind of PPE. I think you can see the similarities there. I am perfectly aware that everybody in medicine, in particular, RTs, is immersed in technology. The work you do every day, every day, really could not be done in modern healthcare settings without technology. From the instrumentation you use to things like scheduling and email and communication, all of those things rely on robust working, secure, safe technology. Sometimes I think we forget how much technology permeates our life. It is not just the phone in our pocket, and it's not just the banking that we do online, but in the professional setting, our work really can not be done without that trustworthy technology. And it requires work on everybody's part. It requires a contribution from the creators of that technology. The designers of medical equipment must take very seriously making secure and also usable hardware and software. People who design websites and design phones think about that. The designers are one human element in this ecosystem, but so are we, as consumers, as users of that technology.
People in technology very much want security to be easy and usable for you. It might seem like a burden, but that is not their goal. They are not trying to get in your way. Cybersecurity is there to help protect your primary goals. Your primary goal is healthcare, not security, and I have to remember that we are there to support you and make sure that you can do those things safely as a cybersecurity expert. However, that does not absolve all of us from making good choices. In the same way, when you drive your car to work, you have some responsibility for making good, intelligent choices. Even though the automobile is trying to help you and there are laws to protect you, we all bear some responsibility. So cybersecurity is the way to help you reduce risk. We cannot get to zero risk in cybersecurity, but the things that we do, like passwords, are there to help lower the risk of bad things happening and prevent harm from being done. That is the goal of cybersecurity. That is its core function.
This Ask the Expert is an edited excerpt from the course, Everyday Cybersecurity Best Practices for Respiratory Therapy, presented by Josiah Dykstra, Ph.D.
