How can we ensure privacy in the digitization of healthcare?

By Benjamin Fine, Co-Founder and CEO of Formsort

The digitization of healthcare has been a protracted process. In some places, the debate continues over whether it should happen at all. But like it or not, healthcare is progressively embracing increasing amounts of technology. Accelerated by the pandemic, healthcare’s complete digital transformation is no longer an ‘if’ but a ‘when’, and the priority now needs to be getting it right – protecting patient data and privacy is integral to that.

What is the problem with patient privacy and healthcare digitization?

While healthcare digitization opens the door to a range of benefits, including the provision of a cohesive and detailed overview of a patient's history to any healthcare worker who may be called upon to treat them, it also carries a major risk. The collection, storage, and transmission of personal health data all present opportunities for data breaches, which raise genuine privacy and security concerns. From unauthorized access and data misuse to technical and infrastructure failures leading to leaks or the mishandling of data, health services have a range of potential concerns to address. And robust strategies are going to be needed to avoid any major healthcare scandals.

What can healthcare organizations do to ensure patient privacy in digitization?

As we’ve already seen in banking and other sectors, there are multiple approaches available to safeguard digital privacy. Some are more effective than others, and as technology evolves, new ways are being found to both breach security and to prevent breaches. Data encryption happens as standard. Access controls and multi-factor authentication are used everywhere, from banks to the majority of email providers, while regular security updates and patching are routine. And regulatory oversight – whether the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe or the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) in the US – is becoming far more comprehensive as the online world develops. But there are more things, specific to the healthcare industry, that can be implemented to ensure patient privacy and data security.

Smarter data collection

With contemporary technology, including artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), it’s now possible for organizations to collect near-endless data about individuals. But to minimize the risk to patient privacy, smarter data collection needs to be initiated in order to gather only the data necessary for specific purposes.

Anonymization and pseudonymization of data

Once that data has been gathered the removal or replacement of identifiable details could also be initiated, to help ensure patient privacy while still enabling the wider analysis of the data.

Data segmentation and isolation

Equally, where anonymization is not appropriate, data segmentation should be used to keep sensitive healthcare information isolated from other systems. Separating administrative data from personal health information, and isolating critical health data on separate servers, encrypted databases, or blockchain, and controlling access should limit damage if breaches do occur.

Communication

While data collection and storage are of vital importance in the digitization of healthcare, they’re not the only areas where security matter. Communication platforms are the source of myriad security problems. The implementation of secure messaging systems and video conferencing tools with integrated encryption and privacy protocols should become standard.

Audit trails

When something does go wrong, covering it up should never be an option. Maintaining comprehensive audit trails that log every access and modification to patient data is one of the most essential means of identifying unauthorized access or potential breaches.

Patient control

Patient control and consent are at the heart of a healthy and ethically sound healthcare digitization. Patients should not only have clear control over their health data, including the ability to grant or revoke access to their personal health records. But they need to know that they have this control. Clear, jargon-free consent forms must become standard practice in all digital healthcare scenarios. Using a secure and HIPAA compliant form builder ensures that patient data is collected and managed in line with strict privacy regulations, safeguarding sensitive information and enhancing patient trust.

Is it worth the risk?

While there is significant risk associated with healthcare digitization, there’s a strong argument to be made that the benefits outweigh the threats. Whether it’s faster and more accurate diagnoses and improved personal patient plans or greater patient access to personal data – and the accountability that will grow from that – the digitization of healthcare must generally be viewed as a positive thing. However, in whichever manner digitization is deployed in healthcare, the initial focus must be placed firmly on security and privacy.

By prioritising privacy during the early stages of healthcare digitization, we can create a system that is both actually and morally robust and fit for purpose.

About Author:

Benjamin Fine is the Co-Founder and CEO of Formsort, a form builder software built specifically with healthcare companies in mind. Prior to Formsort, Ben launched and scaled digital mortgage lender better.com (NASDAQ: BETR). He began his career as an investor at the Blackstone Group. Ben holds a B.A. in Applied Mathematics from Harvard College.