Physical security is a complex of tools and methods that are used to guarantee the safety of particular facilities that contain confidential information (Forte & Power, 2007). Technical security is a range of activities that are focused on the safety of modern technologies with a use of such methods and encryption, authentication, and others (Azuwa, 2015). Data redundancy is the availability of confidential information at more than one place at a time (Huang, Chen, Lin, You, & Peng, 2015).
It is imperative to consider the fact that it is quite important in case an emergency happens. However, it should be minimized most of the time because it dramatically increased the risks, and it should be addressed. Overall, physical security is the most important and should be focused on because it is not possible for third parties to try and hack data if they are not able to get access to it in the first place, and it is hard to argue with importance of such measures. Currently, some laws are focused on the privacy of health care information and are regulated by The Office for Civil Rights (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 2015).
It needs to be said that they are quite reasonable because there is a possibility that it can be used for a range of criminal activities. It is also paramount to make sure that such information stays confidential because it may cause issues in personal life. However, it needs to be said that current system is in need of improvement because data is not as secure as it should be, and it is evident that numerous issues are present.
Identifiable patient information is a kind of data that can be used to locate an individual (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 2015). It should be said that health care institutions are mostly in compliance with the rules. However, some issues are present. Private practices are especially hard to regulate, and this fact should be considered. It is interesting that there may have been numerous instances of information disclosure, and most patients do not know about it. Also, it is imperative that various scientists pay attention to current issues and try to develop tools and methods that would help to resolve such problems (Prada et al., 2011).
It is especially dangerous if criminals are able to access such information because it can be used in various ways. The government makes sure that such instances are limited. However, it needs to be said that it is still possible, and the information is not as confidential as one may expect. New technologies make it easier to protect data, but there numerous complications may occur. Also, attorneys may have access to the information about the patients if they make a request, and there is a severe responsibility for the disclosure (Miller & Schlatter, 2011).
Overall, it is necessary to collect and process such data but the fact that it may lead to some consequences should be addressed. It is especially problematic because the breach of information may cause numerous problems, and the safety of citizens may be in danger. There is a need of for improvement of the system, but the effectiveness of some methods is still being researched, and it may not be an easy task to implement such systems.
References
Azuwa, M. (2015). Technical security metrics model in compliance with ISO/IEC 27001 standard. International Journal of Cyber-security and Digital Forensics, 1(4), 280-288.
Forte, D., & Power, R. (2007). Physical security – overlook it at your own peril. Computer Fraud & Security, 7(8), 16-20.
Huang, Z., Chen, J., Lin, Y., You, P., & Peng, Y. (2015). Minimizing data redundancy for high reliable cloud storage systems. Computer Networks, 81(1), 164-177.
Miller, R. B., & Schlatter, T. (2011). Can this health information be disclosed? Navigating the intricacies of HIPAA in claims litigation. The Brief, 40(3), 32-39.
Prada, S., Gonzalez-Martinez, C., Borton, J., Fernandes-Huessy, J., Holden, C., Hair, E. Mulcahy, A. (2011). Avoiding disclosure of Individually Identifiable Health Information: a literature review. SAGE Open, 1(3), 1-16.
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. (2015). Health information privacy. Web.