PQC Migration for Health Systems, Pharma, and Medical Devices
Health systems must keep patient records confidential for decades. That makes the records prime targets for harvest-now-decrypt-later attacks. Like OT equipment, medical devices have limited computing resources, long field lifetimes, and few upgrade paths. The FDA is extending its cybersecurity guidance for connected medical devices to cover quantum readiness.
Healthcare CISOs and IT leaders have to plan PQC migration around HIPAA compliance, clinical system availability, and patient safety.
Course Outline
Module 1 Healthcare Quantum Exposure
Patient data and the HNDL threat: why health records with 50+ year sensitivity windows are prime harvest targets. Medical device integrity risks. Clinical trial data protection. Pharmaceutical IP protection.
Module 2 Medical Device Constraints
Cryptographic limitations of deployed medical devices. FDA cybersecurity guidance and its PQC implications. Device lifecycle management during cryptographic transition. Gateway-based protection for devices that cannot be upgraded.
Module 3 Clinical Systems Migration
EHR system cryptographic dependencies. Clinical application migration planning. HL7/FHIR interface security. Maintaining clinical workflow availability during migration.
Module 4 Regulatory Alignment
HIPAA requirements applied to PQC migration. FDA pre-market and post-market cybersecurity guidance. NIS2 implications for healthcare providers. Building the healthcare-specific compliance case.
Prerequisites
None. Sector experience is helpful but not required. For a broader PQC foundation, consider starting with Post-Quantum Foundation.
Certificate of Completion
Upon completion, you receive a Quantum Academy certificate of completion. It is separate from our professional certifications and states your CPE credits, one for each 60 minutes of teaching. CISSP, CISM and CRISC holders can claim them with their certifying body. The credits also count toward renewing a Quantum Academy certification. Our CPE credits page explains how to claim them.
Who this course is for
Healthcare CISOs and security architects, biomedical and clinical engineering leads, EHR and clinical application owners, and privacy officers. Medical device manufacturers get a useful view of what their customers will ask for next.
If you work for a payer, Quantum-Safe Insurance covers your side of the sector.
What you’ll be able to do afterward
- Assess healthcare-specific quantum exposure (patient data confidentiality, device integrity, clinical trial data)
- Apply HIPAA requirements to PQC migration planning
- Address medical device cryptographic constraints and FDA cybersecurity guidance
- Plan EHR system and clinical application migration
- Evaluate pharmaceutical R&D data protection requirements
What you leave with
When you finish, we email you the course handbook, a PDF of every slide with notes that explain it in full. We also include a PDF copy of Quantum Ready. The handbook is yours to keep.
Enrollment includes 180 days of access to the online on-demand course. Where that course is not yet published, the 180 days start on the day it is.
Where this course fits
Nothing is required. Post-Quantum Foundation covers the algorithm vocabulary if you want it first. The Quantum-Safe Healthcare Intensive is the full-day, hands-on workshop for health systems and device makers. The Quantum-Safe Pharma Intensive is the full-day, hands-on workshop for pharmaceutical and biotech teams. PQC Vendor Governance covers the conversations you will then have with device manufacturers.
Why we teach this
The course is built on the Applied Quantum PQC Migration Framework. Its author, Marin Ivezic, is one of the practitioners who teach here. The framework is published openly under Creative Commons at pqcframework.org. The people who teach this course run migration programs inside organizations today. The course covers the problems they meet in that work.
About this program
Quantum Academy credentials are private professional credentials issued by Quantum Academy, a trade name of Post-Quantum Institute. They are not government-issued licenses, accredited degrees, or academic credit, and earning one does not guarantee employment, promotion, regulatory approval, or any other specific outcome.
Quantum Academy programs are educational and informational only, and are not legal, compliance, or engineering advice.