The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is looking for industry to participate in its efforts to develop a secure architecture for telehealth deployments outside of healthcare facilities, according to an upcoming Federal Register notice.
The request for participation, released for public inspection on August 28, notes that NIST is looking to test a wide range of products as part of its Securing Telehealth Remote Patient Monitoring Ecosystem project. NIST will solicit participation until enough companies have offered their capabilities to craft the framework.
“The objective of this use case is to provide an architecture that can be referenced and guidance for securing a telehealth remote patient monitoring ecosystem in healthcare delivery organizations and patient home environments,” NIST stated.
NIST is looking for a wide range of components for testing. Some tools – like video conferencing, audio conferencing, and patient monitoring devices that can send data to healthcare providers – are expected in a telehealth environment, while others – like endpoint protection, personal firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and anti-ransomware tools – focus more on the cybersecurity portion of the project.
The agency plans to apply its NIST Cybersecurity Framework to telehealth environments, and combine security tools and telehealth tools to create a secure architecture outside of the typical hospital environment, enabling telehealth engagements in more locations.
“As the use of these capabilities continues to grow, it is important to ensure the infrastructure supporting them can maintain the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of patient data, as well as ensure the safety of patients,” NIST notes on the project’s website.