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Hospitals and practices are concerned about the security of their patients’ information, and rightfully so. The fear of data pirates and hackers prevents many health providers from making the switch from paper records to electronic ones. However, as this Colorado hospital discovered, sticking to paper records won’t prevent the possibility of confidential patient information being compromised or stolen.

In fact, providers wanting to maximize the security of their patient information might consider that it is much easier to keep patient information secure if it is housed in digital format with proper access and audit controls. Client-server-based systems that still rely on staff backing up information on tapes are simply relocating the problem, as a rash of news stories recently has proven, but remotely hosted Internet-based systems can exceed HIPAA regulations, take care of backups in a secure data center, and protect data being transmitted between you and the server by using a secure, private platform that avoids the cluttered, public forum of the World Wide Web.

You can find out more about the differences between client-server technology and Internet-based technology here.

There has recently been a spate of items in the news about breaches in the privacy of patient information. It seems that electronic records, while transforming the accessibility (not to mention legibility) of patient information, have also presented a new set of security headaches for practices and hospitals alike. It’s therefore essential for those health professionals considering automation or upgrading an old system to shop around for HIPAA-compliant practice management software that has advanced security measures, not only to protect patients from the mishandling of their identity and personal information, but also to protect physicians or their practices from litigation.

Tools to look out for include user-defined permissions, which allow administrators to give users different levels of access to data, and audit trails, which produce a permanent record of which authorized users accessed a patient’s chart at what time. Additionally, some application service provider (ASP) models feature better protection from hackers than others – those that are Internet-based (as opposed to Web-based) create a private platform between you and your data rather than channeling it through the very public forum of the World Wide Web.

 Technology can be misused and abused, but it can also be implemented as an effective tool to safeguard information privacy. Making sure your medical management system is secure will help prevent future lawsuits against you or your practice.