The security of patient identifiable information in doctors' homes

McLean, Iain; Anderson, Camille

doi:10.1016/j.jcfm.2004.01.004

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…What they do not address is storage of patient information on home and workplace computers, computers with multiple users, differing levels of access rights to stored patient information by members of the health team, and guidelines on email communications and their secure storage. Studies have shown that patients and health care workers alike express concerns over privacy of health information when stored electronically and that they attach significant risk to these concerns [11,12]. …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pitfalls in computer housekeeping by doctors and nurses in KwaZulu-Natal: No malicious intent

Jack

Singh²,

Mars

2013

BMC Med Ethics

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IntroductionInformation and communication technologies are becoming an integral part of medical practice, research and administration and their use will grow as telemedicine and electronic medical record use become part of routine practice. Security in maintaining patient data is important and there is a statuary obligation to do so, but few health professionals have been trained on how to achieve this. There is no information on the use of computers and email by doctors and nurses in South Africa in the workplace and at home, and whether their current computer practices meets legal and ethical requirements. The aims of this study were to determine the use of computers by healthcare practitioners in the workplace and home; the use and approach to data storage, encryption and security of patient data and patient email; and the use of informed consent to transmit data by email.MethodsA self-administered questionnaire was administered to 400 health care providers from the state and private health care sectors. The questionnaire covered computer use in the workplace and at home, sharing of computers, data encryption and storage, email use, encryption of emails and storage, and the use of informed consent for email communication.Results193 doctors and 207 nurses in the private and public sectors completed the questionnaire. Forty (10%) of participants do not use a computer. A third of health professionals were the only users of computers at work or at home. One hundred and ninety-eight respondents (55%) did not know if the data on the computers were encrypted, 132 (36.7%) knew that the data were not encrypted and 30 (8.3%) individuals knew that the data on the computers they were using were encrypted. Few doctors, 58 (16%), received emails from patients, with doctors more likely to receive emails from patients than nurses (p = 0.0025). Thirty-one percent of individuals did not respond to the emails. Emails were saved by 40 (69%) recipients but only 5 (12.5%) doctors encrypted the messages, 19 (47.5%) individuals knowingly did not encrypt and 16 (40.0%) did not know if they encrypted the data. While 20% of health professionals have emailed patient data, but only 41.7% gained consent to do so.ConclusionsMost health professionals as sampled in South Africa are not compliant with the National Health Act or the Electronic Communications Transactions Act of South Africa or guidelines from regulatory bodies when managing patient data on computers. Many appear ignorant or lack the ability to comply with simple data security procedures.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pitfalls in computer housekeeping by doctors and nurses in KwaZulu-Natal: No malicious intent

Jack

Singh²,

Mars

2013

BMC Med Ethics

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“…For the previously mentioned reasons, users must be provided with ways to delete easily any personal identifiable information (PII) so that the next users of the instrument or application cannot access the previous users' information (66). Another approach is to provide clear information to users about how to handle these data and ensure these individuals know they have the right to stop at any time.…”

Section: Personal Information Protection Laws' Impacts On the Smart Mmentioning

confidence: 99%

Legal problems faced by hospitals seeking to implement artificial-intelligence-based medical treatments in Taiwan

Wang¹,

Chien²,

Chang³

2020

Health Technol

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concern (3-5).Most AI applications in medical treatments are still focused on correctly applying technology or exploring possible future uses. The recently proposed applications are, however, potentially problematic because public health insurance data is utilized to conduct research. Given the current evolution in AI usage, a large amount of personal medical data (i.e., big data) must inevitably be processed (6). In this context, those who use health data need to answer key questions. How are the data collected? Where do they come from? Do the data owners agree? These issues are

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“…There isn't enough information about Physician awareness of clinical data security, yet a questionnaire aimed to 66 forensic physicians in United Kingdom expressed the need for information, education and training in data security [9].…”

Section: Figure 1: E--prescription Process and Its Intervenients Withmentioning

confidence: 99%

Physician's awareness of e-prescribing security risks

Rodrigues

Antunes

Santos

et al. 2013

Proceedings of the 26th IEEE International Symposium on Computer-Based Medical Systems

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New governmental legislation introduced eprescription as mandatory in the Portuguese health system. This changes consequences were not properly considered, which caused security problems related to patient and prescriber's data, such as digital identity fraud or access to prescriptions history to build clinical profiles. In order to evaluate the e-prescribing software users awareness to those risks, a survey took place, and the results revealed ignorance of certain obligations and procedures of the e-prescribing process. A significant part of doctors are not conscious about where the patient's data is stored neither about the risks related with prescription's information.

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The security of patient identifiable information in doctors' homes

Cited by 6 publications

References 0 publications

Pitfalls in computer housekeeping by doctors and nurses in KwaZulu-Natal: No malicious intent

Pitfalls in computer housekeeping by doctors and nurses in KwaZulu-Natal: No malicious intent

Legal problems faced by hospitals seeking to implement artificial-intelligence-based medical treatments in Taiwan

Physician's awareness of e-prescribing security risks

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