Clinical Cybersecurity Training Through Novel High-Fidelity Simulations

Area of Science:

• Medical Device Cybersecurity
• Clinical Simulation
• Patient Safety

Background:

• Healthcare cybersecurity risks extend beyond data breaches to include compromised medical devices and infrastructure.
• The increasing use of connected medical devices amplifies these risks, potentially disrupting patient care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and implement high-fidelity clinical simulations for training clinicians.
• To teach recognition, treatment, and prevention of patient harm from vulnerable medical devices.

Main Methods:

• Created three novel clinical simulations with realistic patient-care scenarios.
• Scenarios were based on researched security vulnerabilities of hacked medical devices.

Main Results:

• Clinicians failed to identify compromised medical devices as the cause of simulated patient conditions.
• The study identified a gap in clinicians' ability to diagnose device-related patient harm.

Conclusions:

• Clinical simulation is an effective educational tool for addressing emerging patient safety issues.
• Training clinicians on medical device cybersecurity is crucial for preventing patient harm.