Health‐Care Data Protection and Biometric Authentication Policies: Comparative Culture and Technology Acceptance in China and in the United States

Abstract

A proliferation of health information technology (HIT) policies to implement dimensions of e‐health, including electronic medical records, electronic health records, personal health records, and e‐prescribing—along with expanding initiatives on mobile health in developed countries and emerging technologies—has sparked academic inquiry into the protection of privacy and data and the technology to protect privacy and data. This article examines HIT policies in the United States and in China and the use of authentication technologies to assess biometrics as privacy's friend or foe in different political frameworks with varying conceptions of privacy. An analysis of privacy in the context of health data protection, challenging relations of trust between patients and providers, the increasing perspective of health data integrity as a cyber‐security issue, and the growing rate of medical fraud and medical identity theft may yield findings of a convergence of views of privacy and biometrics unexpected of contrasting political cultures.

ABO/Rh Testing, Antibody Screening, and Biometric Technology as Tools to Combat Insurance Fraud: An Example and Discussion

“…9,10 Biometrics has also been defined as "automated measurements of the physiological or behavioral characteristics of a living human [being] to identify and authenticate the person's identity." 6 The healthcare industry is slowly welcoming this type of technology, which has been used for years in other industries. For example, financial institutions use biometric technology to protect customer data and to lessen costs associated with repeated password changes; retailers use it to track returns, thereby curbing financial losses.…”

“…Possible reasons that an increasing number of healthcare organizations are using biometrics applications include compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) and prevention of data compromise, medical identity theft, and medical identity fraud. 6 Some healthcare organizations now require patients to present a photo ID and they check patient demographic information as well as use barcoded wristbands that must be scanned as patients travel throughout treatment areas. The use of biometrics applications and other identification options increases the levels of security and patient authentication.…”

“…The use of biometrics applications and other identification options increases the levels of security and patient authentication. 6 During a patient's first visit to a healthcare facility, the facility gathers and stores his or her personal information, such as name, home address, data from health-insurance card, and a scanned record of the biometric traits used at that facility for identification purposes. On second and subsequent visits or encounters during the same visit, the scan obtained by the facility pulls up the information stored in the patient database.…”

“…This technology helps facilities to authenticate patient identity, to verify the identity of the health care personnel working on patient records, to safeguard privacy, to increase efficiency in registering patients, to prevent creation of multiple medical records for patients, and to reduce waste of resources. [6][7][8] Biometric technology in healthcare involves using human characteristics such as the patterns of the iris, fingerprints, palm prints, and facial features to identify patients. 9,10 Biometrics has also been defined as "automated measurements of the physiological or behavioral characteristics of a living human [being] to identify and authenticate the person's identity."…”

Open Innovation and Involvement of End-Users in the Medical Device Technologies’ Design & Development Process: End-Users’ Perspectives

“…One of our ideas was to involve participants from different nationalities in order to study the cultural effect, if any in this case. Cultural differences have been shown to have significant impact in the field of healthcare technology mostly in regards to MDTs implementation, acceptance and resistance to change [46] [47]. Participants were quickly informed of the nature & background of our study, they were handed a consent form and asked to sign it should they agree to be part of our study.…”