Protecting patient confidentiality in hospitals

As new methods of electronic data storage and distribution appear in hospitals, new challenges in protecting confidentiality have emerged. At the same time, demands for 'seamless' care and the desire to share information between clinicians are motivating hospitals to relax barriers to the transfer of patient information. Increasing numbers of users at multiple sites compound the difficulty of ensuring information systems security. Hospital policy may demand that requests by patients to restrict the distribution of personal information be respected, while existing electronic systems are not able to deliver on this promise. Compliance with the Information Privacy Principles of the Commonwealth Privacy Act 1988 and the Australian Standard 4400-1995 'Personal privacy protection in health care information systems' will provide a useful framework for managing these challenges. However, their implementation will require some forethought.