Cardiologists join chorus of voices urging Trump administration to kill cybersecurity proposal
The American College of Cardiology, College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME), American Medical Association and dozens of other healthcare organizations are pushing back against a proposed update to U.S. cybersecurity policies.
The proposal, first announced by the Biden administration, was developed to “better protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of electronic protected health information.” However, these groups argue that it would increase costs, waste valuable resources and require “extensive infrastructure redesigns.” In addition, they believe the rule’s requirements are not nearly as flexible as required for such sweeping changes; its one-size-fits-all approach could actually end up having a negative impact on patient care.
“We support updating cybersecurity standards for health care, and they must be flexible enough to accommodate the wide range of provider organizations,” the organizations wrote in a letter to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “Standards should set strong protections while allowing innovation so providers can respond effectively to evolving cybersecurity risks.”
The groups also said this proposal “runs counter to President Trump’s robust deregulatory agenda.” They are officially asking HHS to withdraw the policy as soon as possible.
CHIME leads the charge against major cybersecurity updates
CHIME, an organization for healthcare executives with thousands of members, led the efforts to craft this letter.
“CHIME members are deeply committed to protecting patient data and strengthening cyber resilience,” CHIME President and CEO Russell Branzell said in a statement. “Our members are not asking for less security—they are asking for smarter policy. This proposal would impose rigid technical mandates that add cost and complexity without meaningfully improving cybersecurity. We urge HHS to withdraw the rule and work with providers on a flexible, risk-based approach that meaningfully strengthens patient safety.”
Read the letter here.
Michael has more than 19 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.