Is Private Data Entered Through A Physician Portal Secure?
As more and more patients see their physicians accessing a physician portal to enter their…
As more and more patients see their physicians accessing a physician portal to enter their medical data electronically, questions regarding security arise. The move to computerized physician order entry, or CPOE, is designed to improve the level of safety regarding patient health. But, what about safety regarding patient identity? Is that being protected throughout the health information exchange? Many patients are wondering about this and as the practice becomes more commonplace, many more will begin asking these questions.
When doctors access a portal from their laptops, tablet computers, or other devices and perform CPOE, they must enter a password. This is just one security measure designed to ensure that an unauthorized individual does not access the data. When Are Workout Supplements Good For You EMR integration occurs, the hospital and lab must also authenticate themselves in order to access patient health records. All parties that view this data must go through some form of security measure in order to prove they are authorized.
The EMR integration portion of the process is what gives some patients pause. Software is used that is transmitting data over the Internet, enabling health information exchange between the doctor, lab, and hospital. Anyone with concern can rest assured that an EMR interface is actually better at protecting medical data than is the traditional local practice management software. This should serve as an impetus for any practice to convert their records now, rather than in the future.
Network encryption technology called SSL is used to transmit the medical data over the Internet. This level of encryption prevents hacking, eliminating the ability for an unauthorized party to access Social Security numbers, credit card information, or confidential medical details. Remote servers store the data and these are protected by enterprise-level data security systems, virus scanners, and firewalls. Companies providing storage services know that their reputation is on the line, should data end up in the wrong hands.
In addition to protecting data entered through the physician portal from theft, this information is protected from loss due to disaster. Data is regularly backed up at the enterprise level, so even if a backup is overlooked by the doctor office, the information will be safe. Data security Chemotherapy Process is especially important in the healthcare industry and federal laws like HIPAA impose significant penalties for failure to comply with privacy regulations regarding patient medical records. All of this ensures that the private data entered through the portal is quite secure.