What happens when critical clinical systems stop talking to each other?
During the ransomware attack on Kettering Health this past May, the answer became painfully clear:
- Cancer patients missed radiation treatments.
- Emergency departments reverted to manual operations.
- Scheduling and communications systems failed.
- Patient trust was shaken—and so was the organization’s reputation.
Why did the damage go beyond encrypted servers?
Because many healthcare IT environments are still built in silos—and when one system falls, the rest often follow.
Why Healthcare Systems Must Work Seamlessly
Most healthcare organizations rely on a complex mix of systems:
- Electronic Health Records (EHR)
- Imaging (PACS)
- Medical devices and IoT
- Practice management and billing
- Scheduling and communications
When these systems aren’t properly integrated and secured:
- An outage in one area can cripple entire care workflows.
- Staff lose the ability to coordinate patient care.
- Recovery is slower, more chaotic, and more damaging to patient safety.
The Kettering Health incident exposed these risks in stark detail—and it’s far from an isolated case.
3 Priorities for Building a Resilient, Integrated Healthcare IT Environment
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Design for Seamless Recovery
Integration isn’t just about convenience—it’s about enabling clinical continuity:
- Ensure critical systems can operate independently during partial outages.
- Prioritize recovery sequences so patient-facing systems come online first.
- Enable staff to maintain care quality even when key digital tools are degraded.
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Secure the Full Ecosystem
Cyber attackers love healthcare’s complex IT landscape because it’s full of blind spots:
- Map all connected systems and data flows—clinical and non-clinical.
- Apply consistent security controls and monitoring across the entire environment.
- Regularly test for gaps where ransomware could propagate.
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Enable Internal & External Collaboration (Co-Managed IT)
Many healthcare organizations have skilled internal IT teams—but ransomware defense requires additional expertise and resources.
A co-managed IT model allows internal and external teams to work together:
- Internal IT focuses on day-to-day clinical operations.
- External specialists provide advanced cybersecurity, 24/7 monitoring, incident response, and secure backup strategies.
This collaborative approach builds resilience without overwhelming in-house staff—and gives healthcare leaders peace of mind that expert support is in place if (and when) an attack occurs.
Final Thought
The ransomware attack on Kettering Health was a wake-up call: disconnected, under-protected healthcare IT environments put patients, providers, and organizations at risk.
Seamless system integration and strong cybersecurity posture are no longer optional.
They are essential to:
- Protect patient safety
- Maintain trust
- Meet compliance obligations
- Enable clinical continuity during any disruption
If your organization isn’t fully confident in your current strategy, now is the time to act.
Schedule a cybersecurity and IT resilience strategy call with our team today.
We’ll help you assess your environment and identify practical steps to strengthen your defenses.
