Creating a Cyberattack Plan for Radiology Operations: A Practical Pediatric Perspective

Area of Science:

• Radiology
• Information Security
• Disaster Preparedness

Background:

• Cyberattacks pose significant threats to healthcare operations.
• Radiology departments are critical for patient care and vulnerable to network disruptions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a comprehensive cyberattack response plan for a pediatric hospital's radiology department.
• To align departmental preparedness with enterprise-wide disaster strategies.

Main Methods:

• Participated in a multidisciplinary effort to create a cyberattack protocol.
• Established a command center model for maintaining radiology operations during network outages.
• Detailed plans for staff organization, equipment tracking, imaging study archiving, and communication.

Main Results:

• Developed a radiology downtime strategy for cyber-events.
• Included command center setup, modality-specific workflows, secure communication, and equipment recovery.
• Emphasized paper-based tools, encrypted storage, interdepartmental teamwork, and streamlined image acquisition/interpretation.

Conclusions:

• Radiology departments must proactively develop cyberattack protocols.
• Sharing this process can help other institutions build robust systems for network outage resilience.
• Maintaining readiness through multidepartmental efforts is crucial for future cyberattack preparedness.