Report: Organ Transplant Data Security Needs Strengthening [Video]

Audit , Governance & Risk Management , Healthcare

United Network of Organ Sharing Security and IT Management Under Scrutiny (HealthInfoSec) • September 1, 2022    

The national network for connecting medical centers with donated human organs faces doubts about its ability to secure data amid mounting concerns over its IT infrastructure.

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The newest criticism comes from a federal watchdog review of the Health Resources and Services Administration and the nonprofit United Network of Organ Sharing. As of January, nearly 107,000 individuals were candidates on the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network waitlist. OPTN is designated by the federal government as a “high-value asset.”

UNOS, which manages its network at the administration’s behest, lacked system monitoring and only had draft procedures for access controls when federal auditors conducted their review.

The OPTN “is a very ‘just in time’ …