COMPUTER APPLICATIONS IN HEALTH
Electronic Health Records (EHRs) is a digital electronic version of the patient’s paper chart found in the office of the healthcare provider or a doctor. It contains the medical history of the patient, the notes, and other essential data like the health signs and symptoms of the patient, results obtained from the laboratory, diagnosis, and all other clinical reports. According to Health Information technology (2019), the state government established the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) on privacy policy to certify that the patients have the rights for the privacy of their information regardless of form. Through the implementation of HIPAA, the government ensured security regulations for patients’ information and records for a specific purpose (Health Information technology 2019).
Health and medical employees, such as doctors, ensure that breaching does not happen through EHR’s by taking the following measures (Kahn & Sheshadri 2008). They can conduct a security risk analysis meeting yearly about the safety and proper budgeting of HIPAA. Also, improving network security by using the updated security measures to keep patients information and records safe away from being accessed by third parties. Creating multipurpose wireless networks is also another way of protecting patients’ data from public access, destroying in the right direction all health data and records of the patient when not needed. Lastly, increasing cybersecurity budget to access the advanced network security like hiring qualified technicians and secure servers that can detect any attempt of breach or hacking. Don't use plagiarised sources.Get your custom essay just from $11/page
I can take the following measure to safeguard personal information. Being very alert, especially to Impersonators. I must know the person I am sharing my personal information with; otherwise, I cannot share my personal information with strangers mainly through phone, email, or any website. I can also dispose of my personal information safe, and I can make use of the wipe utility to overwrite the whole disk drive. Enabling data encryption to secure my browser, especially on online transactions. I can also use strong passwords in my devices and websites that contain my personal information. Lastly, the use of security software, such as installing firewalls, anti-virus software, and anti-spyware software, are the ways that can be used to protect personal data (Fernandez & Alexander, 2016).
References
Health Information technology, (2019). Article on “Guide to Privacy and Security of Health Information.” Retrieved from: https://www.healthit.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/privacy/onc_privacy_and_security_chapter4_v1_022112.pdf.
Kahn, S., & Sheshadri, V. (2008). Medical record privacy and security in a digital environment. IT professional, 10(2), 46-52.
Fernandez, A., & Alexander, K. M. (2016). Data Privacy and Confidentiality. iURBAN: Intelligent Urban Energy Tool, 35.