Sensitive information is intrinsically tied to interactions in healthcare, and its protection is of paramount importance for achieving high-quality patient outcomes. Research in healthcare privacy and security is predominantly focused on understanding the factors that increase the susceptibility of users to privacy and security breaches. To understand further, we systematically review 26 research papers in this domain to explore the existing user studies in healthcare privacy and security. Following the review, we conducted a card-sorting exercise, allowing us to identify 12 themes integral to this subject such as "Data Sharing," "Risk Awareness," and "Privacy." Further to the identification of these themes, we performed an in-depth analysis of the 26 research papers report on the insights into the discourse within the research community about healthcare privacy and security, particularly from the user perspective.
MotivationSecurity and privacy integration in the healthcare domain is essential to protect patients' data [12], considering medical records include sensitive health and personal information. The healthcare industry is often a prime target for cybercriminals considering that these data sets could contain a plethora of sensitive information such as social security numbers, birth dates, employment information, emergency contacts, and insurance and billing data; these data are also notoriously difficult to monitor or safeguard after a breach [23]. Furthermore, healthcare data are lucrative on the black market. Sahi et al. noted