Security Challenges Faced by Large Health Care Provider - Assignment Example

Security Challenges Faced By Large Health Care Provider Assignment A Security in healthcare facilities is critical for quality care and the safety of the public. Hospitals are considered as a safe haven for persons seeking emotional and physical help. In addition, people turn to hospitals in case of natural disaster or emergency. According to Hoke (30), healthcare facilities face security threats emanating from within and outside them. Addressing these threats requires that the hospital must carry out a risk assessment and enforce measures to manage them. Hoke (30) ranks patients as the top ranked security concern followed by employees, visitors, and vendors in that order. The units that are under security threat include infant, pediatric, pharmacy and psychiatric unit. One of the major security threats facing hospitals is one of terrorism. Terrorism is the most common security threat facing the world today. Terrorism is perpetrated by a group of people as a show of opposition to a particular authority. Terrorism is also conducted with an intention of inducing fear or causing great anxiety to a large population so that the group may become coerced to accede to particular demands of perpetrators. Hospitals are not immune to terrorisms as victims in such case can make the government given in to terrorist demands. Terrorists may access hospitals disguised as visitors or they can get in ambulances pretending to be bringing in emergency cases. Consequently, ABC should understand that it is not immune from terrorism and must therefore put measures to control access into the facility (Shukla 50). The other threat facing hospitals is the threat of fire. According to Shukla (50), threat of fire is a great challenge facing health care facilities given that in this environment; patients depend on the staff during the case of fire. The risk of fire increase due to lack of alertness, limited mobility and fixed equipments found in hospitals. In addition, the activities conducted within hospitals where flammable gases and liquids are used, laboratory processes where hazardous chemicals are used, and clinical research enhance the risk of fire in a hospital setting. In addition to destruction of the physical infrastructure, fire destroys hospital records and medication. To address the threat of fire, hospitals must therefore be designed with escape routes that can allow easy movement in case of emergency (Hoke 31). Furthermore, it is critical to install fire-fighting equipments and train the staff on these skills. Hospitals are also required to use technology that will allow detection of fire and fire alarms for emergency response. The other major security threat facing hospitals are floods and hurricanes. Depending on the area that the hospital is located, it may be prone to the risk of flood (Hoke 31). Flooding may make the hospital to become inaccessible and could even lead to some people becoming displaced. Moreover, the risk of hurricanes is also eminent in the case of hospitals especially those constructed in coastal regions (Hoke 31). Like flooding, hurricanes can make the hospital inaccessible and destroy the physical infrastructure. Flooding and hurricanes could also lead to destruction of medical supplies. The other form of natural disasters that poses a security threat to hospitals is earthquakes. Earthquakes pose a threat to the facilities and the people inside. Earthquakes are particularly dangerous to those patients receiving care in intensive care units and the children (Shukla 50). Although occurrence of earthquakes cannot be stopped, the hospital can install sensors to warn of any eminent earthquake. Another security threat that the management of a hospital should understand is the risk of losing its records. Records are critical in offering health quality care to patients, given that they are useful in maintaining the health history of a patient and the prescription that the patient receives. The records may be destroyed during a natural disaster or in case of fire or terrorist attack. Hospital records may also be destroyed by malicious persons seeking to conceal fraud or theft. The extent to which hospital records are exposed to security risk depends on the strategy used in storing the record. Furthermore, the characteristic of threat is influenced by the mode of storing data. For instance, records stored manually are prone to more threat of being destroyed through fire. On the other hand, electronically stored data has a risk of being accessed by unauthorized persons through hacking or they may be destroyed by malware. One more security threat facing hospital setting is the risk of vandalism of supplies. Hospital management should be wary that the medical supplies and other valuable resources in the facility. Vandalism may be initiated by the staff or visitors to the facilities, this brings the need to have a specific entry point, and access to the store should be controlled. Works Cited Hoke, Gordon E. J., C.R.M. "Future Watch: Strategies for Long-Term Preservation of Electronic Records." Information Management Journal 46.3 (2012): 26, 28, 30-31, 47. ABI/INFORM Complete. Web. 9 Oct. 2012. Shukla, Rakesh. "The Case for Electronic Records Management." Financial Executive 20.7 (2004): 50-52. ABI/INFORM Complete. Web. 9 Oct. 2012. Student’s name Professor’s name Course title Date Storage of Patient Records Assignment B Detailed and accurate storage of medical record is critical in ensuring quality care. However, storage of information is not enough, but it is critical to ensure that the privacy and integrity of patient information is maintained. There are various points that must be achieved when storing patient records; these points will form the basis for the policy. One of the critical objectives in storing patient data is ensuring its security. By ensuring the security of records, the hospital is assured that patient’s records can be accessed whenever needed (Hasan, Winslett and Sion 3). In addition, when storing health records it is critical to ensure that such information can be retrieved and manipulated easily as these records keep on changing. However, the authority to change patient data should be vested on specific personnel. To ensure that only specific individuals manipulate patient records, doctors should have passwords that they can use to access data and make changes (Hasan, Winslett and Sion 3). In addition to ensuring that healthcare givers access patient health records, it is also critical to ensure that patients have authority to access their information. Access of health records by patients is based on the fact that patients may wish to seek medical care from other facilities, and their medical record is critical in ensuring that they receive quality care. Consequently, to ensure all this is achieved, the patients will have personal accounts similar to emails (Hasan, Winslett and Sion 4). The patients will have passwords for their accounts, and they should be trained on strategies of ensuring confidentiality. The integrity of data is the other critical aspect in patient record storage. Integrity of data implies that the information retrieved is truthfully the one stored and nothing is lost. To ensure the integrity of records, the hospital management must control access to the information to specific authorized persons (Hasan, Winslett and Sion 5). The logging to the system should be done in a trustworthy manner, and audits trails should be carried periodically to determine whether there are cases of unauthorized access. Before logging into the health record system, there should be ways to verify that the user is authorized. The other strategy that must be adhered in storing patient health is to protect it from malicious programs, such as Trojans, worms and other viruses. To protect the electronic system from viruses, the electronic system used in data storage should have firewall and antivirus. Moreover, the system should be scanned periodically to remove virus. Users of the systems should also be trained to be wary of some internet sites, as these are known to infect computers. The hospital will also be required to have a backup service in a remote service. A back-up system is critical since it offers recovery services in case the system breaks down. The remote station used as a backup should be meet confidentiality and security requirements developed by the hospital. The back-up system ensures that the hospital continues to access its data in case of natural disaster or fire. Quick access to medical record requires demands that the hospital use indexing technique for fast retrieval. Indexing technique used in storing data should not use keywords such as “Aids” as this can negatively affect the confidentiality of patient’s data (Hasan, Winslett and Sion 4). The indexing technique should conceal the information of patient but should be easy to remember. A health facility should ensure that the information of a patient is maintained even after the patient stops coming to the hospital or in case one passes on. Consequently, it is important to come up with procedures that will ensure effective disposal of information (Hasan, Winslett and Sion 6). The disposal of patient record should only be undertaken after the lapse of many years, for instance ten years, as this gives an adequate time for any cases that can be brought by a patient’s relative. In conclusion, patient record storage management requires development of well-defined procedures to ensure integrity and confidentiality. To ensure confidentiality and integrity, it is critical to limit access to the system. In addition, it is important for the hospital to provide personal accounts to health caregivers and patients to access information. The hospital should have a backup system where patient record is stored in a remote location. The other services needed are firewall and antivirus to protect the system from malware programs. Lastly, the hospital should adopt indexing technique when storing patient records. Works Cited Hasan, Ragid, Winslett, Marianne and Sion, Raud. “Requirements of Secure Storage Systems for Healthcare Records”. Stony Brook University, Department of CS (n.d.): 1-7. Web. 9 Oct. 2012. Read More