It’s 8:47 AM at the front desk. You have 47 unread emails waiting between patient check-ins. One catches your eye: “EHR System Alert: Verify Your Credentials Within 24 Hours to Avoid Account Lockout.”
Your mouse hovers over the link. Is this real? Your EHR vendor sends these sometimes, right?
This exact moment happens thousands of times daily in healthcare practices across the country. And here’s what makes it dangerous: 92% of healthcare organizations experienced at least one cyberattack in 2024, with over large number of those attacks involving phishing. Your front desk staff, billing team, and clinical staff aren’t just healthcare workers. They’re the targets.
Do you think your practice is protected? Think again.
These cybersecurity myths are putting healthcare practices at serious risk.
This guide gives you red flags you can spot in 30 seconds, real healthcare scenarios you’ll recognize, and what to do when something feels off. No technical jargon required.
Why attackers target healthcare staff
You’re not just healthcare workers. You’re trained to be helpful.
Healthcare culture rewards quick responses to urgent requests. Staff are taught to prioritize patient needs above all else. Attackers study this behavior and craft emails that trigger exactly those instincts you’ve been trained to follow.
Your information is published everywhere. Staff directories on practice websites list names and emails. LinkedIn profiles show job titles and where you work. Attackers use this public information to make phishing emails look completely legitimate.
The numbers tell the story. Healthcare has the highest breach costs of any industry, averaging between $10.93 million per incident.
Each patient record is worth more than a credit card info, but complete medical information can sell for up to $1,000 on the dark web. Even a small practice with 10,000 patients represents millions of dollars to cybercriminals.
As Tim Grelling from Focus Solutions explains in the webinar above, even practices with “three doctors” can easily have “over 100,000 records” after being in business for 10-15 years. There’s nothing small about that target.
You’re dealing with credential overload. EHR logins, payer portals, imaging systems, email, and billing software all require separate credentials. Constant authentication requests become background noise. Attackers count on you being numb to “verify your password” messages.
Attackers send most phishing emails between 7am-1pm on weekdays, right when your team is busiest.
The 5-second scan: Red flags every staff member should know
These aren’t technical details. They’re patterns you can train yourself to spot in seconds.
Red flag #1: Check who really sent it
Look at the email address, not just the name. The sender name says “ModMed Support” but the email comes from “modmed-alerts@securemail-verify.com.” Real ModMed emails come from “@modmed.com.” Watch for slight misspellings like “microsaft.com” instead of “microsoft.com.” Hyphenated versions are almost always fake: “blue-cross.com” versus legitimate “bcbs.com.”
Red flag #2: Generic greetings mean mass emails
“Dear User” or “Dear Healthcare Professional” wasn’t written for you specifically. Legitimate vendors know your name and use it. Your EHR company doesn’t send “Dear Valued Customer” emails.
Red flag #3: Urgent language that pressures you
Attackers love these phrases: “Verify within 24 hours or your account will be locked,” “Immediate action required to avoid penalties,” “Unusual activity detected, click here now,” and “Your payment is overdue” when you know it’s not.
Why this work on healthcare staff? You’re trained to respond quickly to urgent situations. The pressure makes you skip the double-check.
Red flag #4: Requests that break normal procedures
Ask yourself: Is this how we normally do this? Your IT team doesn’t ask for passwords via email. Insurance companies don’t request credential updates through links. Vendors don’t ask for payment information in unsecured emails. Colleagues don’t send wire transfer requests without calling first.
A front desk staff member once received an email that looked like it came from the practice administrator asking for updated W-9 forms for “vendor payment processing.” The email address was one letter off from the real administrator’s email. The staff member almost replied with sensitive information before checking by phone.
Red flag #5: Hover before you click
Don’t click immediately. Hover your mouse over any link first. The preview shows you the real destination. If the preview URL looks weird or doesn’t match the supposed sender, don’t click. Shortened links like bit.ly or tinyurl hide where they really go.
Safe alternative: If you need to log into your EHR or payer portal, type the address directly into your browser or use your saved bookmark.
Red flag #6: Unexpected attachments
You weren’t expecting a file, but one arrived anyway. File names like “Invoice_Updated.exe” or “PatientRecords.zip” should raise immediate suspicion. Any attachment asking you to “enable macros” or “enable editing” is dangerous.
When in doubt, call the supposed sender using a number you already have, not one in the email.
Real healthcare scenarios: What these look like in your practice
These are actual scenarios attackers use on healthcare staff.
Scenario 1: The fake IT support request
What you see: Email reads “IT Department: System maintenance requires credential verification.” It looks official, uses your practice logo, and includes a link to “verify your access.”
What to look for: Does IT actually send these kinds of emails? Check the sender domain. Is it really your IT vendor? Your IT team has your credentials already. They don’t need you to verify.
What to do: Call IT using the number you already have.
Scenario 2: The urgent executive request
What you see: Email from your practice administrator or doctor-owner states “I’m in a meeting, need you to update our banking information for this vendor.” It’s an unusual request via email when they normally call or ask in person.
What to look for: Would they really ask this via email? Check the email address carefully. One letter off makes it fake. Urgent financial requests should always be verified.
What to do: Text or call to confirm before taking any action.
Scenario 3: The patient portal “alert”
What you see: “Your payer portal access has been suspended. Click to reactivate.” It looks exactly like the real portal login page with time pressure: “Verify within 2 hours.”
What to look for: Does this portal actually send alerts this way? Check the sender’s email address. Don’t click the link.
What to do: Type the portal address manually or use your bookmark.
Scenario 4: The helpful “patient”
What happens: Someone calls or comes to the front desk saying “I left my insurance card at home. Can you look up my benefits at this website?” They’re friendly, understanding, and patient.
What to look for: Is this how your practice normally verifies insurance? Are they asking you to go to an unusual website? Does it feel like they’re guiding you to do something outside procedure?
What to do: Follow your standard verification process only. Never deviate.
If something feels off, it probably is. It’s always better to take two minutes to verify than to spend months recovering from a breach.
The 30-second decision: Pause, scan, verify
You don’t have time for long security training. Here’s what actually works.
Step 1: Stop (3 seconds)
Don’t click immediately when you see urgent requests. Take one breath.
Step 2: Scan (10 seconds)
Check the sender email address, look for generic greetings, spot urgent or threatening language, and hover over any links.
Step 3: Ask yourself (10 seconds)
Was I expecting this email? Does this follow our normal procedures? Would this person really contact me this way?
Step 4: Verify if unsure (varies)
Use a phone number or contact method you already have. Never use contact info from the suspicious email. Ask someone: “Does this look right to you?”
Step 5: Report it (30 seconds)
Hit your “Report Phishing” button if you have one, forward to your IT team or security contact, delete after reporting, and don’t feel bad about “false alarms.” Better safe than breached.
What to do if you clicked
First: Don’t panic, but do act fast.
If you clicked a link but didn’t enter anything
Close the browser tab immediately, report it to your IT team right away, and watch for any unusual computer behavior.
If you entered your username or password
Alert your IT team immediately. They need to protect your account. Change your password on that system and any other place you used the same password. Document what happened for your incident report.
If you’re not sure what you clicked
Tell IT anyway. Better safe than sorry. They can check your account for suspicious activity. This information helps protect everyone else, too.
Even security professionals get phished sometimes. The important thing is reporting it quickly so your practice can respond.
How your practice can make detection easier
Speaking to practice leaders while staff read: Here’s how to support your team.
For your team: Add a one-click “Report Phishing” button to everyone’s email. Make reporting easy and celebrated, not something people fear doing. Put a simple checklist at workstations as a quick reference.
For ongoing training: Hold 5-minute monthly huddles with real examples from your own email. Show what actually arrived in your practice’s inbox. Practice scenarios: “Would you click this? Why or why not?” Celebrate catches: “Sarah spotted a fake vendor email this week. Nice work!”
What IT can do behind the scenes: Email systems can tag external emails so staff know when something came from outside. Filters can block obvious threats before they reach inboxes. Your team can monitor for suspicious patterns.
The best defense: Every team member who can spot phishing in 30 seconds.
Your staff is your first line of defense. When everyone knows what to look for, attackers have to work a lot harder to get in.
You’re more prepared than you think
You already have the most important skill: good instincts.
You know when something feels off. You know when a request doesn’t match normal procedures. You know when someone’s pushing you to act without thinking. Those instincts work for phishing detection too.
The difference now: You have specific red flags to watch for, you have a 30-second process for making decisions, and you know what to do if something slips through.
Remember: Slow down for urgent requests (the irony works). Verify through channels you already know and trust. Report anything suspicious. You’re protecting everyone. Every prevented click saves your practice thousands in potential breach costs.
Healthcare IT and security work best when they work together. That means strong Managed IT, Managed Security, and Managed Data creating multiple layers of protection with your team as the critical final checkpoint.
Real protection isn’t just technology at your door. It’s technology, processes, and people all aligned to keep threats out before they reach your inbox and a prepared team ready when one gets through.
Looking for support for your healthcare technology organization that understands clinical workflows? Focus Solutions works exclusively with healthcare practices to unify your IT infrastructure, security controls, and team training into one defense.
We help practices move from reacting to threats to preventing them without disrupting the care you deliver.
