LESSON 14

ETHICS,PRIVACY,
AND SECURITY
INTRODUCTION
The majority of healthcare Healthcare informatics deals with
professionals now depend on questions of right and wrong,
honorable deeds, and suitable and
mechanical assistance when improper behavior.
administering patient care as a
result of modernization in the
field. Nonetheless, the truth
remains that the healthcare
profession's research and
practice should be guided by
human values.
14.1. ETHICS IN HEALTH INFORMATICS

Health informatics ethics (HIE) - is the application of the principles

of ethics to the domain of health informatics.

3 main aspects of health informatics:

• healthcare
• informatics
• software
 GENERAL

HEALTH
INFORMATICS INFORMATICS
ETHICS

SOFTWARE
GENERAL

AUTONOMY

BENEFICENCE

NON-MALEFICENCE
AUTONOMY -
IS THE BELIEF THAT NO HUMAN BEING HAS THE RIGHT
OR DUTY TO RULE OVER ANOTHER.

BENEFICENCE AND NON-MALEFICENCE

“DO GOOD” AND “DO NO HARM”
BENEFICENCE relates most significantly with the
use of stored data in the EHR.

NON
MALEFICENCE relates most significantly with the
use of data protection.
INFORMATICS ETHICS.
INFORMATION- • all have the right to privacy; control over the collection, storage, access, use,
communication, manipulation, linkage and disposition of data.
PRIVACY
• collection, storage, access, use, communication, manipulation, linkage and disposition
OPENNESS of data must be disclosed in an appropriate and timely fashion to the subject or subjects
of those data.

• data collected about person should be protected by all reasonable and appropriate
SECURITY measures against loss, degradation, unauthorized destruction, access,use,
manipulation,linkage,modification or communication

• right of access and right to correct thrm with respect to its accuracy,
ACCESS completeness, and relevance.

• all have the right to privacy; control over the collection, storage, access, use,
LEGITIMATE communication, manipulation, linkage and disposition of data.
INFRINGEMEN
INFORMATICS ETHICS.
• Any violation of an individual's right to privacy may only take
LEAST
place in the least visible manner and with the least amount of
INTRUSIVE interference with the rights of the parties involved.
ALTERNATIVE • Any violation of an individual's right to privacy must
ACCOUNTABILITY be properly and promptly justified.
SOFTWARE ETHICS
HIE - relies on use of software to store and process information. As a result, activities carried out by
developers might significantly affect end-users.

Software developers has ethical duties and responsibilities to the following stakeholders:
• society
• Institutions and employees
• profession
SOFTWARE ETHICS

• society - • institution and its • profession-

When creating software,
developers should consider
how their work will affect
society. Disclosure of
known software faults and
dangers is part of this.
employees- Software products should
activities should be done meet expected
in the beneficial of the professional standards.
instituion and its Developers should strive
employees, while to build products that
balancing their duties to meet high standards by
the public including being thoroughly testing and
straightforward about detailing unresolved
personal limitation and issues.
qualifications.
PRIVACY, CONFIDENTIALITY, AND SECURITY

• Privacy - Confidentiality is more Privacy and confidentiality

primarily relates to people directly linked to the are universal rights that
and their dislike of being anonymous sharing of should be respected without
monitored. information having to be earned, argued
for, or justified.
PRIVACY, CONFIDENTIALITY, AND SECURITY
Protection of privacy and confidentiality is advantageous for individuals and society as a whole.
Patients are more likely to be comfortable sharing sensitive healthcare data when they believe that this
information will not be shared inappropriately.
LEVELS OF SECURITY IN THE HOSPITAL INFORMATION SYSTEM

Privacy and confidentiality in relation to security are established; the next focus would be on
safeguards, or the solution tools that may be utilized to implement your security policies.

Administrative may be implemented by the management as organization-wide policies and

procedures.

Physical - mechanism to protect eqquipment, systems, and locations.

Technical -automated process to protect the software and database access and control.
EXAMPLES OF ADMINISTRATIVE, PHYSICAL, AND TECHNICAL SAFEGUARDS

ADMINISTRATIVE: PHYSICAL: TECHNICAL:

• Continual risk assessment of
health IT environment.
• Continual assessment of
effectiveness of safeguards
for e-health info.
• Detailed process for viewing
and administering e-heallth
info.
• Employee training on the use
of health IT.
• Appropriately reporting
security breaches.
• Office alarm systems • Securely configured
• Locked offices containing computing equipment.(virus
computing equipment that checking, firewalls)
store e-health info. • Certified applications and
• Security guards technologies that store or
exchange EHI.
• Access to control to health IT
and EHI.(e.g Authorized
computer accounts.)
• Encryption of EHI
• Audiing of health IT
operations.
• Health IT backup capabilities
THE NRC EMPHASIZES THAT TECHNOLOGICAL SECURITY TOOLS ARE ESSENTIAL COMPONENTS OF
MODERN DISTRIBUTED HEALTHCARE INFORMATION SYSTEMS, AND THEY SERVE FIVE KEY POINTS.

1. Availability -ensuring that accurate and up-to-date information is available when needed at
appropriate process.
2. Accountability - helping to ensure that healthcare providers are responisble for their access to and
use of information, based on a legitimate need and right to know.
3. Perimeter Identification - knowing and controlling the boundaries of trusted access to the information
system, both physically and logically.
4. Controlling Access - enabling access for healthcare providers only to information essential to the
performance of their jobs and limiting the real or perceived temptation to access information beyond
a legitimate need.
5. Comprehensability and control - ensuring that record owners, data stewards, and patients understand
and have effective control over appropriate aspects of information privacy access.
LEVELS OF SECURITY IN THE LABORATORY INFORMATION SYSTEM
LEVELS OF SECURITY IN THE LABORATORY INFORMATION SYSTEM
LEVELS OF SECURITY IN THE LABORATORY INFORMATION SYSTEM