Health Information Technology - Essay Example

Health Information Technology (HIT The first project I would undertake to positively impact healthcare as the CEO of a startup company would definitely be a patient-centered outcomes research project. HIT can be used to improve the quality of healthcare services by staggering proportions. In my research project, I intend to explore how HIT can be used by my company to enhance patient care delivery operations. The project that I would undertake would be titled “Trustworthy Healthcare Program (THP).” Its basic aim would be to ensure and respect the privacy of individual patients. Medical information delivered to patients is often improper and lacks credibility. So, THP will also strive to ensure that all medical information is absolutely trustworthy and clear. This is bound to require many imaginative innovations in information-sharing technology, but it will also ensure security to patients and take care of their concerns in an optimally effective manner. Securing patients’ records is a big problem for the healthcare industry. First, it should be understood that healthcare security provided through the use of HIT is very different than other forms of business IT infrastructure (Peterson, cited in Hulme, 2011). This difference is important to acknowledge many challenges encountered in providing healthcare security which will be explored and addressed in THP. For example, there is this challenge that often healthcare professionals tend to be suspicious of cybersecurity, so they resist this. This resistance becomes a hurdle in the provision of trustworthy healthcare services to patients. Research claims that less financial investments are made by the healthcare industry in the area of IT security than any other industry. It is reported by the Community Health Systems that hackers stole “sensitive information on approximately 4.5 million patients” (Lemos, 2014). This shows that HIT is still not taken as seriously as it should be to deliver trustworthy healthcare. It is due to this reason that the security expert David Kennedy claimed healthcare to be the “most breached industry in 2011” (Brenner, 2011). If this challenge is effectively handled, HIT can be satisfactorily secured. In THP, cloud systems will be used to protect patient information. Research suggests that majority of cloud services employed in healthcare run medium to high security risk. Skyhigh Networks is a popular cloud security vendor and recently, it made a statement that “more than 13% of cloud services used in healthcare are high‒risk” (Munro, 2014). However, the purpose of THP will be to bring remarkable and imaginative innovations in cloud-computing systems so that no one could able to breach them. Malware attacks on patients’ record systems usually happen outside of operating hours. So, open-source software with warranty will be used in THP to assess how they increase security. Medical information systems should be electronic universally because research has it that they are potentially capable of drastically improving healthcare quality. Patient and hospital costs can be reduced annually by more than $81 billion through use of electronic information record systems (Hillestad et al., 2005, p. 1106). His suggests that healthcare quality can be transformed through the use of electronic record systems with potential savings. THP will explore what actions need to be taken to take HIT security forward and inculcate it in all medical institutions’ systems. This is directly linked to patient welfare which makes this project a patient-centered project. Information security and privacy is a major concern in the healthcare industry (Appari & Johnson, 2008). Medical information should be delivered directly to patients in a very efficient and seamless manner without any delays. A patient him/herself should be the first to know any information about him/herself because this is the basic right of a patient. But, medical information systems are often confronted with the challenge of hacking. So, THP will strive to shield these medical information systems from hackers for patient safety and privacy. A notable computer science professor at Johns Hopkins University has recently told in an interview that hackers these days do not only try to steal credit card credentials, rather they have shifted to hack important medical information. Targeting such information has become a vogue in present times which is why it is critically important to insulate information systems (Rubin, cited in Ranum, 2014). In the project conducted at my company, I will focus on eliminating the concept of breaches which is about sharing patient information without their consent on health websites. Though such kind of information disclosure is named “the second highest reported breach” (Hasan & Yurcik, 2006), focus will be concentrated on insulating all patient record systems. Research has it that information security failures cause financial losses to both patients and care providers (Ball et al., 2003, p. 78). So, to meet this end of safe data disclosure, innovative IT tools will be developed with the help of research fund in my project. For example, a web-based disease management service can be provided to all patients. This service will be secured by maintaining a tight security check on it and it will be only disclosed to patients and their healthcare providers. This system will help to promote a smooth flow of communication which will ensure easy exchange of clinical information. HIT security is considered worse than that of retailers like eBay and Target (Diana, 2014). But, my project will help to push HIT security further up in the list by the use of open-source software. I consider it a myth that such softwares should not be used because they are fraught with risks. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with them can with proper use can help to secure health records (Munro, 2014). My project is directly linked to health system improvement and patient welfare. Costs will be reduced which will save healthcare setups from economic contractions. Also, patient welfare will be enhanced because privacy will be ensured to them. A trustworthy healthcare program is the need of the present times and it should be available to every patient. Though electronic systems have been breached many times in healthcare industry as is shown by research conducted over recent years, but it has always been due to an obvious lack of security measures. So, THP will allocate more funds than any other project to adequate safety measures. This will hugely influence patients’ satisfaction because there will be no threats and social stigma which is otherwise encountered by innocent patients in case of security breaches. References: Appari, A. & Johnson, M.E. (2008). Information Security and Privacy in Healthcare: Current State of Research. Retrieved from http://www.ists.dartmouth.edu/library/416.pdf Ball, E., Chadwick, D.W., & Mundy, D. (2003). Patient Privacy in Electronic Prescription Transfer. IEEE Security & Privacy, 77-80. Brenner, B. (Nov 14, 2011). Healthcare ‘most breached industry in 2011.’ Retrieved from http://www.csoonline.com/article/2134941/data-protection/healthcare--most-breached-industry-in-2011-.html Diana, A. (Apr 28, 2014). Healthcare IT Security Worse Than Retail, Study Says. Retrieved from http://www.informationweek.com/healthcare/security-and-privacy/healthcare-it-security-worse-than-retail-study-says/d/d-id/1269207 Hasan, R. & Yurcik, W. (Oct 30, 2006). A Statistical Analysis of Disclosed Storage Security Breaches. Retrieved from http://www.ragibhasan.com/wp-content/uploads/publications/papers/rhasan-storagess2006.pdf Hillestad, R., Bigelow, J., Bower, A., Girosi, F., Meili, R., Scoville, R., & Taylor, R. (2005). Can Electronic Medical Record Systems Transform Health Care? Potential Health Benefits, Savings, and Costs. Health Affairs, 24(5), 1103-1117. Hulme, G.V. (Nov 14, 2011). Why healthcare IT security is harder than the rest. Retrieved from http://www.csoonline.com/article/2130107/network-security/why-healthcare-it-security-is-harder-than-the-rest.html Lemos, R. (Aug 24, 2014). CHS Breach a Sign of Health Cares Security Illness. Retrieved from http://www.eweek.com/security/chs-breach-a-sign-of-health-cares-security-illness.html Munro, D. (2014). Over 90% Of Cloud Services Used In Healthcare Pose Medium To High Security Risk. Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/danmunro/2014/09/01/over-90-of-cloud-services-used-in-healthcare-pose-medium-to-high-security-risk/ Ranum, M.J. (June, 2014). Avi Rubin on what it takes to move healthcare IT security forward. Retrieved from http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/opinion/Avi-Rubin-on-what-it-takes-to-move-healthcare-IT-security-forward Read More