Guidelines for computer security in general practice.

نویسندگان

  • Peter Schattner
  • Catherine Pleteshner
  • Heinz Bhend
  • Johan Brouns
چکیده

BACKGROUND As general practice becomes increasingly computerised, data security becomes increasingly important for both patient health and the efficient operation of the practice. OBJECTIVE To develop guidelines for computer security in general practice based on a literature review, an analysis of available information on current practice and a series of key stakeholder interviews. While the guideline was produced in the context of Australian general practice, we have developed a template that is also relevant for other countries. METHOD Current data on computer security measures was sought from Australian divisions of general practice. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with general practitioners (GPs), the medical software industry, senior managers within government responsible for health IT (information technology) initiatives, technical IT experts, divisions of general practice and a member of a health information consumer group. The respondents were asked to assess both the likelihood and the consequences of potential risks in computer security being breached. RESULTS The study suggested that the most important computer security issues in general practice were: the need for a nominated IT security coordinator; having written IT policies, including a practice disaster recovery plan; controlling access to different levels of electronic data; doing and testing backups; protecting against viruses and other malicious codes; installing firewalls; undertaking routine maintenance of hardware and software; and securing electronic communication, for example via encryption. This information led to the production of computer security guidelines, including a one-page summary checklist, which were subsequently distributed to all GPs in Australia. CONCLUSIONS This paper maps out a process for developing computer security guidelines for general practice. The specific content will vary in different countries according to their levels of adoption of IT, and cultural, technical and other health service factors. Making these guidelines relevant to local contexts should help maximise their uptake.

برای دانلود متن کامل این مقاله و بیش از 32 میلیون مقاله دیگر ابتدا ثبت نام کنید

ثبت نام

اگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید

منابع مشابه

Soft Systems Methodology for Implementing Clinical Practice Guidelines in A General Hospital: A study protocol

Background: It is notoriously challenging to implement evidence-based care and to update and improve health care policy. Adhering to evidence-based Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPGs) serves as the driving force behind making decisions based on the best evidence and making efforts for improving the quality of patient care and outcomes. Despite requiring Iranian hospitals to implement CPGs in Ja...

متن کامل

Exploring the Type of Relationship between Information Security Management and Organizational Culture (Case Study in TAM Iran Khodro Co.)

A culture conducive to information security practice is extremely important for organizations since information has to be critical assets in modern enterprises. Thus for understanding and improving the organizational behavior with regard to information security, enterprises may look into organizational culture and examine how it affects the effectiveness of implementing ISM. This study aims ...

متن کامل

Exploring the Type of Relationship between Information Security Management and Organizational Culture (Case Study in TAM Iran Khodro Co.)

A culture conducive to information security practice is extremely important for organizations since information has to be critical assets in modern enterprises. Thus for understanding and improving the organizational behavior with regard to information security, enterprises may look into organizational culture and examine how it affects the effectiveness of implementing ISM. This study aims ...

متن کامل

Clinical guideline for prevention and control of alcohol consumption

Background: Using alcohol is one of the most important death factors that can be prevented. Lifestyle-related diseases are at the top cause of mortality and burden of disease, whereas most of them can be prevented. Considering the growing importance of diseases related to lifestyle (including alcohol abuse), providing evidence-based clinical guidelines for diseases and life-style related condit...

متن کامل

A Deterministic Multiple Key Space Scheme for Wireless Sensor Networks via Combinatorial Designs

The establishing of a pairwise key between two nodes for encryption in a wireless sensor network is a challenging issue. To do this, we propose a new deterministic key pre-distribution scheme which has modified the multiple key space scheme (MKSS). In the MKSS, the authors define two random parameters to make better resilience than existing schemes. Instead of a random selection of these parame...

متن کامل

ذخیره در منابع من


  با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید

برای دانلود متن کامل این مقاله و بیش از 32 میلیون مقاله دیگر ابتدا ثبت نام کنید

ثبت نام

اگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید

عنوان ژورنال:
  • Informatics in primary care

دوره 15 2  شماره 

صفحات  -

تاریخ انتشار 2007