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Data Loss and Data Security in Hospitals

By: James Walsh

The loss or theft of such data can pose serious problems both for the patient concerned as well as the hospital. Hence, its security and protection against loss becomes important.

Type of Data Stored in Hospitals

  • Primarily the computers used in hospitals store data regarding the patients. This may include their personal information such as age, name, address etc. Apart from this, the computers may store the reports of various tests that have been carried out on the patient, the type of treatment that is suitable for him or her and the various medicines that he or she is responsive to.


  • The computers may also store data regarding the different types of research that are being carried out in the hospital and the findings of the same.


  • Apart from this, the computers may store a log of different equipments and the operating theatres that are being used, the work schedules of various doctors, the appointments of the different patients etc.


  • The computers may also store the data regarding the cost of the various tests and operations that are carried out on a patient.


This data is used extensively in the hospitals on a day-to-day basis and is updated frequently as well. Thus, storage of data on computers helps greatly in the co-ordinations of the different departments of the hospitals.

Implications of Data Loss in Hospitals

The data present in the hospitals can be lost in a variety of ways as is the case with the other types of data loss. For example, the computer or the local server may be corrupted or some virus may attack the computers etc.

Such a loss of data may bring a large hospital to a standstill. For example, if the data regarding the appointments of the various patients is lost then the doctors will have a hard time managing their entire schedule. Also, they will not be able to study the case properly before the appointed hour.

Similarly, the reports of the various tests carried out on the patients are used by the doctors to suggest proper remedies to the patients. Without them, the doctors will be helpless in dealing with a lot of cases they may have.

There will also be problems with the calculation of the costs of the tests that are conducted. If the software that is used to route the data to the proper files is lost or corrupted, then the data would be in total disarray and accessing the data or its modification would not be possible.

Implications of Data Theft in Hospitals

The data that has been stored in computers is of confidential nature and cannot be disclosed to any unauthorised personnel. The governments of most countries have made strict laws regarding the same.

With the growing use of computers, the theft of data from hospitals has become easier. For example, the data can be copied into portable data storage devices or it can be accessed from the internet in some cases.

Even use of the records of a particular patient as a part of a survey without the prior permission of the patient amounts to its misuse.

How can Data in Hospitals be Protected?

The data in the hospitals can be protected by restricting unauthorised and unnecessary access to it. For example, only the doctors who are working on a particular case should be allowed to access the data regarding that case.

Once, the data becomes unnecessary, the same should be deleted from the computer. The people in charge of the case and also the data handling professionals should be held responsible for the data that they use or handle.

Apart from this, another measure that can be taken for the protection of data is making use of thin clients. Let us have a look at what these devices are and how they can ensure protection of data.

Thin Clients

Thin clients are computers that lack a hard drive or any other secondary data storage device. They are usually connected to a central server on which the processing of the data takes place. Thus, any individual who accesses the data using a thin client cannot copy the same to any external medium.

The central servers can be protected by making use of techniques such as encryption of the data, restricting access etc. These measures can be implemented more efficiently on one system.

With the advances in technology these days, computers are sure to be put to even greater use in the hospitals. Along with the same, security of the data should exhibit sufficient development as well.

Article Source: http://www.goldenpalacedownload.com/articles/

James Walsh is a freelance writer and copy editor. If you are concerned about data loss and would like more information on Data Recovery see www.fields-data-recovery.co.uk

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