How secure is the Internet for healthcare applications?

The Internet has grown faster than any other communications medium or consumer electronics technology--including the fax machine and personal computer. It offers new possibilities for providing economical and good quality patient care, but how secure is it? Is it prudent to communicate patient information over the Internet? For confidential patient information to be transmitted appropriately on the Internet, the originator must be clearly identified without any chance of impersonation; the information must be transmitted without any possibility of corruption or alteration; and the process must be secure. Many experts recognize the need to secure privacy of information, and there are some standards for electronic signatures and data encryption. However, no one has yet come up with a plan that offers a comprehensive solution. Appropriate confidentiality and security legislation has not yet been passed by the U.S. Congress. The following security technologies are currently available and are described in this article: cryptography, authentication devices, electronic signature systems, firewalls, secure hypertext transfer protocol and secure sockets layer protocol. Until proper standards are developed and accepted, providers should use available technologies to protect both patient records and themselves. The legal consequences of mishandling confidential patient information can be disastrous.