Healthcare information security. The threats and the safeguards--and how to manage them

As more and more hospitals have begun storing patient information in electronic form, data security has become a hot topic. With the passage of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) in the United States, as well as other security legislation across the globe, even more attention has been focused on the subject. In this article, we discuss the various types of security threats faced by healthcare institutions, from external attacks via the Internet to internal violations resulting from malice or simple carelessness. We also discuss what you can do to maintain the privacy and integrity of your electronic records--not only the computer-based safeguards that are available, but also the internal systems and procedures you need to have in place. We tell you how to go about setting up (or beefing up) your institutional security system. And we describe the security efforts being made around the world by governments and standard-setting organizations. This article also includes an extensive glossary of computer-security terms and a listing of useful data-security Web sites.