Security, Challenges And Perspectives In Healthcare Systems

 

I'm working in Healthcare IT for the last 14 years and from my experience healthcare is one of of the toughest environments for project managers. As you may know healthcare have their own challenges like privacy and security. Historically, security has been seen as an inconvenience, preventing users from doing what they want.  However, many usability experts state that security features should not force users through complex steps.  Instead, there are better ways to both enforce security and make the systems more usable.

Healthcare Application

Research shows that deploying new features and technologies in healthcare applications without considering information assurance and security makes patient privacy vulnerable. Additionally, patient identifiable and/or healthcare data of an individual are highly sensitive. Hence, security is a vital requirement of healthcare applications, especially in the case of patient privacy. Currently most healthcare providers are using handheld devices and mobile devices, so that they can have full access to patient information and clinical information. These mobile devices have global network connectivity and are easily integrated into the healthcare providers workflow. But are they really secured? We know from research and security experts that wireless networks have rapidly become a popular area for hackers and games like war walking is a popular pastimes activity for the hacker community.

Workarounds

It’s a human nature to try workarounds when something doesn’t work according to their need or expectation. This can create problems not only to the user but to the entire organization. In a healthcare environment timely reports or information is very critical. So, obviously the user is required to send information as soon as possible. In some cases the healthcare application may not work as expected or a feature that was previously working may be disabled in the new version for security reasons. Also some devices may not have the proper encryption technology, or identity protection applications that can adequately support a hospital’s patient data security and privacy policies. 

Conclusion

When implementing a project in healthcare environment,  it's our responsibility to be aware of the use of workarounds in the healthcare organization, so we have to make sure to update the security policy, risk assessments procedures and implement effective training.