Advantages of SASE in remote healthcare

After COVID-19, remote healthcare emerged as a vital part of modern medical practice. According to The COVID-19 Pandemic and the Future of Telemedicine, a 2023 publication by OECD, telemedicine had been available in many OECD countries for almost two decades before its widespread adoption surged amid the COVID-19 crisis. Initially serving as an alternative to face-to-face consultations, it reinforced remote care models during that period. Now, telehealth appointments, remote patient monitoring systems, and cloud-based medical records are not just supplementary projects; they have become critical elements in how hospitals, clinics, and private practices operate today. However, expanding healthcare services beyond physical locations increases their exposure within digital environments.

This is where the introduction of Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) can provide a transformative method for enhancing the security of remote healthcare services. By integrating networking and security into one cloud-based framework, SASE equips healthcare organizations with the scalability, agility, and protection required for this new era of telehealth and remote healthcare.

Yiyi Miao, Chief Product Officer at OPSWAT, stresses the impact of SASE in this domain: “SASE is a transformative architecture that combines network and security functions into a unified, cloud-based platform. For remote healthcare delivery, SASE offers several advantages:

• Scalability and flexibility: SASE's cloud-native design allows healthcare organizations to scale their security infrastructure as needed, accommodating the dynamic nature of remote healthcare services.
• Enhanced security: By integrating continuous trust assessment, identity verification, and device posture checks, SASE ensures that only authenticated users and compliant devices can access sensitive healthcare data.
• Simplified management: SASE consolidates multiple security functions, such as SD-WAN, CASB, and Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA), into a single platform, simplifying policy enforcement and reducing administrative overhead.

These features make SASE a compelling solution for securing remote healthcare delivery, ensuring both data protection and operational efficiency.”

What is SASE?

Introduced by Gartner in 2019, Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) integrates networking and security services into a cohesive cloud-native framework. Rather than channeling traffic through centralized data centers, SASE positions security closer to the user, no matter their location.

SASE typically integrates:

• SD-WAN (Software-Defined Wide Area Networking) to optimize connectivity across locations.
• CASB (Cloud Access Security Broker) governs the use of cloud apps and enforces data security policies.
• ZTNA (Zero Trust Network Access) restricts access to applications and resources based on identity and device trust.
• FWaaS (Firewall as a Service) will provide scalable, cloud-based firewall protection.
• SWG (Secure Web Gateway) filters web traffic for threats and policy violations.

In the healthcare sector, this means that IT teams can avoid juggling multiple disconnected security tools and instead gain centralized visibility and control over all users, devices, and data flows.

Why remote healthcare needs a stronger security framework

The healthcare industry has long been a top target for cybercriminals. As noted by Adil Seh, et al. in the study, Healthcare Data Breaches: Insights and Implications, “From 2005 to 2019, the total number of individuals affected by healthcare data breaches was 249.09 million. Out of these, 157.40 million individuals were affected in the last five years alone. In the year 2018, the number of data breaches reported was 2216 from 65 countries. Out of these, the healthcare industry faced 536 breaches. This implies that the healthcare industry has faced the highest number of breaches among all industries. There were 2013 data breaches reported from 86 countries in the year 2019. The total number of healthcare records that were exposed, stolen, or illegally disclosed in the year 2019 was 41.2 million in 505 healthcare data breaches.” Additionally, IBM stated that in 2022, “the healthcare sector stands out for extremely high breach costs on the global average chart. Furthermore, the sector has kept its leading position in that respect for the 12th year in a row, setting a new record of USD 10.10 million in average breach costs after rising nearly USD 1 million from the previous year.” 

This research makes it clear that medical records are rich with sensitive information, identities, insurance data, and treatment history that can be exploited for fraud or blackmail.

Read also: Protecting remote healthcare workers with SASE

Why SASE is ideal for remote healthcare

Telehealth platforms, electronic health records (EHRs), and cloud-based collaboration tools require strong protection and reliable access, especially as patient trust depends on safeguarding sensitive information. Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) offers a model designed for these challenges, providing healthcare organizations with flexibility, enhanced security, and simplified management.

Building on insights from Yiyi Miao, let’s explore why SASE’s unique strengths are particularly valuable in remote healthcare:

Scalability and flexibility

A telehealth provider may have a surge in virtual appointments during flu season or a public health crisis. Traditional security models can fail under such sudden increases in traffic.

SASE's cloud-native architecture enables healthcare systems to scale rapidly and effortlessly, accommodating additional users, devices, or bandwidth without the need for expensive infrastructure modifications. It smoothly adjusts to various needs, whether it's expanding a network of rural clinics or integrating temporary physicians.

Enhanced security

Patient trust hinges on keeping their data safe. The study, Trust and Privacy: How Patient Trust in Providers is Related to Privacy Behaviors and Attitudes, found that patients with higher trust in physician confidentiality are significantly less likely to withhold important health information, highlighting the importance of data security in fostering trust.

With SASE, security isn’t static; it’s continuous and contextual. Features include:

• Identity verification: Ensures only authorized clinicians and staff access records.
• Device posture checks: Verifies devices are patched, encrypted, and free of malware before granting access.
• Adaptive policies: Access is granted based on risk levels, time of day, or location, minimizing insider and external threats.

For example, a nurse logging in from a hospital workstation may get instant access, while a doctor connecting from a personal device at home may need multi-factor authentication (MFA) and device compliance checks.

Simplified management

Managing multiple security solutions across multiple sites can be time-consuming and error-prone. SASE consolidates critical functions, such as firewalling, identity management, and application access, into a single, centralized system.

This can be beneficial for resource-strapped healthcare IT teams. With fewer tools to manage, they can focus more on patient care support rather than constant patching, policy updates, or chasing down shadow IT risks.

Additional security approaches beyond SASE

While SASE provides a robust backbone, it isn’t the only option. Healthcare organizations may also consider:

• Data Loss Prevention (DLP): Monitors and prevents unauthorized sharing of protected health information (PHI).
• Secure data transfer tools: Ensures clinicians in the field can safely share patient records and imaging without bypassing security controls.

These solutions, layered with SASE, create a multi-layered strategy that reduces the likelihood of breaches.

Read also: What is Paubox data loss prevention?

Regulatory compliance with SASE

For healthcare organizations, security is about threat prevention and about compliance. Regulations such as HIPAA and GDPR require:

• Strict access control to PHI.
• Audit trails to monitor who accessed what data, when.
• Data encryption at rest and in transit.

SASE helps meet these requirements by:

• Enforcing access policies globally.
• Logging and monitoring every user action.
• Encrypting traffic across distributed networks.

By simplifying compliance management, SASE reduces the risk of costly fines and reputational damage while ensuring patients’ privacy rights are protected.

See also: HIPAA Compliant Email: The Definitive Guide (2025 Update)

FAQS

How does SASE improve telehealth security?

SASE provides secure access to cloud applications, patient portals, and telemedicine platforms by enforcing identity-based policies and encrypting all traffic. This ensures patient data stays protected, even when accessed from remote locations.

How does SASE help healthcare organizations reduce costs?

By consolidating multiple security tools (VPN, firewalls, CASB, SD-WAN) into a single cloud-native framework, SASE lowers hardware and maintenance costs while simplifying IT management.

What happens if a healthcare employee uses an unsecured Wi-Fi connection?

With SASE, all traffic is automatically encrypted and routed through secure gateways. Even if staff connect via public Wi-Fi, patient data remains protected from eavesdropping and man-in-the-middle attacks.