Privacy and security requirements of distributed computer based patient records

Privacy and security issues increase in complexity as we move from the conventional patient record to the computer based patient record (CPR) supporting patient care and to cross-institutional networked CPRs. The privacy and security issues surrounding the CPR are outlined. Measures for privacy and security protection are summarized. It is suggested that we lack a key component of an information sharing culture. We need means for semantic indexing in the form of a metadata base at the level of the instantiation of a data base rather than at the level of its schemas.