The Critical Need for Empowering Leadership Approaches in Managing Health Care Information Security Millennial Employees in Health Care Business and Community Organizations

Introduction

The challenges facing health care organizations and health care professionals today are more complex than at any other time in our history, particularly within the context of new technologies, globalization, social, political, and economic changes (Burns, Bradley, & Weiner, 2011). The traditional challenges of managing costs, access and quality are still on the forefront of today’s health care leaders (Burns, Bradley, & Weiner, 2011). According to Burns, Bradley, and Weiner, (2011) health care organizations, professionals and practitioners face current challenges including:

• 1.

  Federal and state legislation

• 2.

  Increased emphasis on efficient use of resources

• 3.

  Increased emphasis of quality

• 4.

  Increased emphasis on cost effectiveness

• 5.

  Increased emphasis on patient health outcomes

• 6.

  Advanced technology

• 7.

  Information systems, digital health care records, and digital records security

• 8.

  Changing patient demographics and diversity

• 9.

  Skilled labor shortages

Today’s health care manager not only has to be competent in the traditional practices of management and leadership but also competent, knowledgeable and strategic in his/her approach to adapting their organization to the changing and often confusing challenges confronting today’s health care environment. Effective health care management requires both the traditional components of effective management and leadership along with the specific and unique components of a changing and evolving health care system (Burns, Bradley, & Weiner, 2011). According to the Ponemon report (2012), 94 percent of healthcare organizations surveyed suffered at least one data breach; 45 percent experienced more than five in the past two years. Data breaches cost the U.S. healthcare industry an average of $7 billion annually (Ponemon, 2012). Health care organizations are also challenged with addressing:

• 1.

  Strategic proactive protection plans for data and information breaches.

• 2.

  The development of new data and Encryption approaches.

• 3.

  Implement monthly or quarterly vulnerability assessments to reduce the threat of hackers.

• 4.

  The most prominent security protection priorities and organizational resources investments

• 5.

  The development of mobile security policies and protections for employees that access organizational records with mobile devices.

• 6.

  Strategic approaches for the effective use of cloud computing applications.

• 7.

  Ensure the Incident Response Plan (IRP) covers business associates, partners, cyber liability insurance.

• 8.

  Conduct security awareness with staff and build an organizational culture of information security (Rhodes-Ousley, 2013).