Health Information Security

Introduction

“The line’s most dangerous aspect is the psychological one, a false sense of security is engendered, a feeling of sitting behind an impregnable iron fence…” General Sir Alan Brooke War Diaries, 1939-1945

As the world around us evolves and changes, technological advancements are not only seen in our day to day lives but in professional settings as well. From the newest smartphone to the latest advanced car, technology all around us is advancing quickly.
Perhaps, healthcare is one of the most complex, unpredictable and continuously changing system that requires constant and quick adaptation. As the US healthcare system strives to meet the expectations of the public to make healthcare services accessible, lower
It enhances the efficiency, accuracy and readability in comparison with the old system of papers, and faxes between offices. In order to protect patient privacy, information security, is implied under the provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). An important step is to implement reasonable and appropriate administrative safeguards that establish the foundation for a covered entity’s security program. What is an administrative safeguard? “Administrative action, and policies and procedures, to manage the selection, development, implementation, and maintenance of security measures to protect electronic protected health information and to manage the conduct of the covered entity’s workforce in relation to the protection of that information.” (CMS, 2) Basically administrative safeguards take a big part of HIPAA security requirement and with all the rules and compliance of the standards, it requires monitoring and evaluation on a regular
It allows for better preventative health where a physician can easily look up if a patient is due for a cancer screening and set up the appointment for the patient. Amongst other positive things, EHR has also improved data accessibility. EHRs eliminate physical transporting of patient files and allow for remote access to charts by numerous physicians. With any technological device, it is easy for the information to be compromised. When security breaches occur, many individuals are put at risk for getting their identity stolen and it jeopardizes their privacy. EMRs not only hold personal health information but they also contain the patient’s address and social security number. We are now finding ourselves at need for a technology that omits the chance of a security breach occurring within our EMR systems. Safeguards are required in order to protect data in every form. “Physical safeguards are policies and procedures focusing on physical measures that protect a covered entity's electronic information systems and its related buildings and equipment from hazards and unauthorized intrusion. The physical safeguard standards include use of workstations and their security, and controls for media, devices, and access to facilities. Some of the implementation specifications for the physical safeguard standards