Security and Privacy Practices in Healthcare Information Systems: A Cluster Analysis of European Hospitals

摘要

In the past years, increasing efforts have been made toward the implementation of healthcare information technology with the aim of improving patient care and safety, while lowering healthcare systems' costs. However, the transition from a paper-dominant system toward a fully electronically-based system brings with it major challenges in healthcare systems. It particularly exposes healthcare providers and users to more security and privacy risks which come with the digitization of health records. Drawing on data from 1723 European hospitals, we identified, through a cluster analysis, four distinct patterns of health information technology-related security and privacy practices. We found that most European hospitals fail to implement basic security measures consistent with the use of health information technology (HIT). This study contributes to raise awareness on HIT-related security and privacy issues that can negatively affect healthcare users' trust and impede the effective delivery of healthcare services. An appropriate response to the HIT-related security and privacy concerns will increase the acceptability of the digitization of healthcare services.