Healthcare data breaches

Healthcare data breach is therefore referred to as breaching information from a healthcare organization with different contrary intent. Some of the significant information that is always at risk of breach include patient information. Billing information and health insurance information. This practice has increased significantly in the UK and the US where it has been reported in many instances where hackers get to log into different organizations portals and interfere with the information which is obtained inside (Abouelmehdi, Beni-Hessane, & Khaloufi, 2018). Moreover, healthcare data is very crucial and is always essential therefore it should be safeguarded using all means of security. One of the primary cause is theft and hacking which are commonly used by the computer (Wikina, 2014). Most of these activities happen when there is unauthorized access of the healthcare accounts and database.

The criminals, therefore, use their skills to get access to healthcare clouds and databases and get all the information they need to satisfy their ill motives. Networked information systems are being used as a significant base for a data breach in the UK. Healthcare information technology s therefore regarded not to be perfect regarding security as there are still many cases reported of theft (Wikina, 2014). The use of electronic health record has also led to the rising of a lot of ethical issues and considerations revolving around the security of the patient data and records. Also, ethical questions and concerns have different meanings and purposes in different organizations making it a difficult problem to eradicate in the electronic health record (British Medical Association 2012).

Some of the ethical issues in healthcare breach include the following aspects: Information disclosure Most patients are always taken to the hospitals by their families who still demand to know about their loved ones and information regarding their treatment. Ethically, it is right, but in another concept, it is a form of data breach. The information about the patients should always remain disclosed to specific stakeholders such as the patient and the therapists themselves. This informed concept is always given to the doctors by the patients who allow them to perform different activities after proper consultations. A patient might need grand permission to provide their information to their family member because many they might want their families to be aware of their current situations.

Doctors therefore always obey the informed consent which is ever put in a written document and signed by both parties as a form of agreement. The patient permission can contribute to significant data breach because it will no longer be a secret about their health conditions. Granting of the informed consent which is also an ethical practice in a healthcare organization can easily contribute to a healthcare data breach as the patient information will not be secure after it reaches the hands of other people. People who are responsible for the handling of the healthcare information of patient should still provide high security to the patient records and ensure that there are no breaches at all. Breaches can be prevented by any means such as proper handling of the healthcare data and usage of computers.

Some of the professionals might leave the computers containing the healthcare data logged on. This can enable any other person around to access the information inside easily and even export it using other devices such as external storage devices. In summary, there are some ethical principles which should be followed in the healthcare organization to increase the security of the healthcare data. The act overs for privacy and confidentiality of information regarding a person’s home, correspondence and life. The act, therefore, prevents the access of other people information which goes against the privacy rule and the human rights act of the UK. The law has also assisted in maintaining high levels of confidentiality and prevention of interference of other people lives and privacies.

It is a person’s right to have confidential information and keep privacy regarding their own lives. The healthcare organizations should, therefore, uphold this act and make sure that they follow its terms. Theft of data Theft of patient information itself is a criminal activity which is always diminished and charged very highly by the court of law. There have been an increased rate or the criminal activity in the UK where many complain raised of data loss by patients more so who use online data and healthcare services. The theft of patient records is common in the area where there is low security of the data. Criminals who are found stealing the patient data and information are therefore to be reported to relevant authorities for further actions (Bygrave, 2014).

Taking actions on the criminals will reduce the criminal cases as it will be a significant risk they are taking when stealing the healthcare information. Once someone has lost such valuable information, they really find it hard to access treatments for other institutions around the country. This activity has been accelerated by the large numbers of immigrants who might not be having insurance covers and cannot obtain any medical treatment within the country quickly. They, therefore, seek to follow shortcuts to aces the medical services in the country. Many people, therefore, are affected as their information, and personal identities are stolen from the medical databases. The patient information always contains details about the patient including names, date of birth, social security numbers, and other identification details that might be duplicated and used by another individual to receive treatment in different organization.

There have been cases where millions of patients lose their information at once thus affecting a large population. The effect on a large population raises a lot of social concerns which are to be addressed by the government in most instances. Some of the patient information is always valuable as they consist of researched elements that might have consumed a lot of resources and time of the researchers to come up with such conclusions on the patient’s health standards. The health standards of the patients will, therefore, decline at a higher rate. Professional issues In healthcare, there is a lot of professionalism including different employees with different professional roles. With the ability to properly handle computers and understand the computer systems, they can easily prevent the healthcare data breach and also detect if there are any changes of breach going on in the data storage systems.

Mismanagement of computers Computers in a healthcare organization act as significant assets in the organization and everyone should be able to understand their purpose in the organization. The employees in the organization should, therefore, take responsibilities of handling the computers very well and prevent their loss. Mismanaging of the computers have contributed to the loss of some critical parts such as the hard drives which are used to store essential data in the organization. Security measures should, therefore, be installed in the healthcare organizations, and the management should also focus on employing other employees to manage the computers and the online systems which are used to store patient data. References Abouelmehdi, K. , Beni-Hessane, A. , & Khaloufi, H. Big healthcare data: preserving security and privacy.