This HCI-665: Health Information Systems Security course examines the security, privacy, and compliance issues that guide the design and use of health information systems and health care data. Students analyze the regulatory environment and differentiate the regulations, laws, and ethical practices that guide information governance and the uses of data with particular emphasis on patient confidentiality and privacy. Information security tools and strategies for risk assessment, third-party risk management, and audits are also examined.
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Table of Contents
What is a health information system?
A health information system (HIS) refers to a system designed to manage healthcare data. This includes systems that collect, store, manage and transmit a patient’s electronic medical record (EMR), a hospital’s operational management, or a system supporting healthcare policy decisions.
What is healthcare information security?
Information security is the protection of information and information systems from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, or destruction. Therefore, healthcare information security refers to information security within a healthcare environment such as; a healthcare organization, facility, or hospital. It can be achieved by ensuring the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of medical data.
Examples of health information systems.
Health information systems can be used by anyone in a healthcare organization. Medical data is collected and stored in a way that can be used to make healthcare decisions. Some examples of health information systems include:
Electronic health record/ electronic medical record.
An electronic medical record is used as a patient’s medical record to record the patient’s medical history. Thus, it replaces the paper version of patient records. An EMR includes more medical data, test results, and treatments. Most importantly, it is designed to share data with other electronic health records so other healthcare providers can access a patient’s healthcare data.
Practice Management Software
Practice management software assists healthcare providers to manage daily operations such as scheduling and billing. Moreover, healthcare providers in various healthcare facilities use practice management systems to automate many administrative tasks.
Master Patient Index (MPI)
A master patient index connects separate patient records across databases. The index has a record for each patient that is registered at a healthcare organization. It is used to index all other records for that patient which reduces human error and duplicates. Therefore, MPIs are used to reduce duplicate patient records and inaccurate patient information that can lead to claim denials.
Patient Portals
Patient portals enable patients to access their personal health data which may include: appointment information, medications, and lab results over an internet connection. Some patient portals allow active communication with their physicians, prescription refill requests, and the ability to schedule appointments.
Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM)
Remote patient monitoring/telehealth allows medical sensors to send patient data to healthcare professionals. It regularly monitors blood glucose levels and blood pressure for patients with chronic conditions. This medical data is then used to notice medical events that require intervention and can possibly become part of a larger population health study.
Reasons why healthcare cyber threats are a major problem.
- Medical provider networks can contain values such as patient records and financial information.
- Everyone’s personal information is available in some form because only a few people do not see healthcare providers.
- Sharing patient information is integral to providing the best possible treatment to patients, but that same sharing also makes networks extremely valuable targets. This is because the interconnected nature of EHRs means hackers have access to the data that has collected under patients’ names for years.
Potentials threats to health information systems security.
There are several threats to health information systems. Some of the potential threats to HIS security include:
- Malware and phishing.
- Staff.
- Unsecure mobile devices.
- Lost or stolen mobile devices.
- Unrestricted access to computers.
- Inadequate disposal of hardware.
