Is there still protected health information in openly available PowerPoint files?

Area of Science:

• Medical education technology
• Health informatics
• Radiology

Background:

• PowerPoint presentations with radiographic images are vital educational tools.
• Improperly de-identified imaging files pose patient privacy risks and legal consequences.
• This study updates previous research on the prevalence of this issue over 15 years.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the current accessibility of Protected Health Information (PHI) in online radiographic presentations.
• To determine if the issue of unsecured PHI in educational materials has improved since prior research.
• To highlight the ongoing need for robust data protection in medical imaging education.

Main Methods:

• Conducted 8 Google Web searches using specific medical imaging modalities and filetype:ppt/pptx.
• Manually inspected PowerPoint files for radiographic images (X-rays, CT, MRI, etc.).
• Assessed identified presentations for the presence of full PHI (name, MRN, date, geographic indicator).

Main Results:

• Searches for 'Magnetic Resonance Imaging filetype:ppt' and 'Cardiac CT CAT Scan filetype:ppt' showed 7.6% of presentations contained full PHI.
• 'Radiology Chest X-ray filetype:ppt' had 40% with accessible PHI, and 'Post-Operative CT Scan filetype:ppt' had 29%.
• Searches using '.pptx' yielded significantly fewer results with PHI, but some partial and full PHI was still found.

Conclusions:

• While the percentage of presentations with PHI has declined, it remains easily accessible online.
• Enhanced user education on de-identification techniques for medical images in presentations is essential.
• Radiologists play a key role in educating peers on safeguarding patient information in educational materials.