Electronic Health Records (EHR) Privacy

For some of us, a trip to the doctor includes the doctor inputting our information into our medical record using their computer or tablet. The updated record saves to the medical office’s server. Your information can then go anywhere from a medical billing office, to your insurance company’s claims office, to your pharmacy, or back to your primary care doctor’s office

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What Does this Mean for EHR Security?

Keeping EHRs secure and available is a challenge – and will become even more so as more health records go electronic. Health Information Privacy Breaches Affecting 500 or More Individuals, details more than 500 U.S. breaches from 2009 to 2012, including how breaches occurred. According to the 2012 U.S. Health and Human Services report, Annual Report to Congress on Breaches of Unsecured Protected Health Information, lost or stolen mobile devices, such as tablets, PDRs, and USB keys, are quire common.

Safeguards for Keeping EHRs Available and Secure

Keeping data secure requires physical and online safeguards. For mobile devices, enforcing secure passwords and encryption, as well as rules on keeping  mobile devices in close physical proximity can help. And of course, storing the data from mobile devices on network servers or clouds can ensure data availability. Networked data security and availability is what SolarWinds does, with network security tools, like:

• Log and Event Manager– Collects log and event data from devices and performs true real-time correlation, enabling you to automatically take action against threats.
• Mobile Admin -– Quickly deploys secure mobile access for mobile devices and IT management technologies with one integrated mobile application.
• Firewall Security Manager – Automates security audits and simplifies firewall troubleshooting for multi-vendor, Layer-3 network devices.