Local startup MediTechSafe launches healthcare cybersecurity game
June 18, 2019
Most patients don’t realize that about 40 percent of connected medical devices inside hospital walls are vulnerable to hacking — so local startup MediTechSafe has developed and launched an iOS & Android game to raise awareness around the issue of cybersecurity in healthcare.
Founded by Pranav Patel, MediTechSafe provides medical device and clinical network security risk management solutions for healthcare providers. MediTechSafe has been working with four hospital systems, including one rural location and one metro location.
The new game, MediAgent, is designed as a fun way to educate and protect the average patient, VP of Products Siva Kannathasan said in an email announcing the launch.
Medical devices are increasingly connected in efforts to improve employee productivity and patient care. The industry is also looking toward digital innovations such as telemedicine.
But with 3k new FDA-approved devices a year, it can be difficult for clinicians to keep up. Healthcare cyber attacks occur at more than twice the frequency of other industries. And adverse patient impacts, ranging from loss of function to death, due to health IT interoperability (errors when different systems need to talk to each other) are on the rise, Siva said.
MediAgent uses point accrual and competition to teach about the technologies and terms of healthcare cybersecurity.
MediTechSafe is trying to reach students who want to be doctors, nurses, dentists, physician assistants, biomedical engineers & radiology techs or want to pursue careers in cybersecurity, healthcare IT or healthcare management, or professionals already interested or involved in those fields.
The game is especially appealing for the people who like to “play detective” and do intellectual research work, Siva said.
MediAgent is free on iOS and Android. Learn more here.
