1-2 Journal: Security Measures 1 1-2 Journal: Security Measures Felicia Rush Southern New Hampshire University
RUNNING HEAD 2 Introduction When it comes to healthcare facilities, it also comes to the paperwork or records of the patients who attend those facilities. These facilities are responsible for their patient's health records no matter how they are kept. As there are many different ways each facility keeps its information safe and confidential, the three that I will cover are access controls, audit trails, and, lastly, good antivirus software. Security Measure Choices As I mentioned above, the three security measures I will discuss are access controls, audit trails, and antivirus software. Access controls are a software program designed to prevent unauthorized use of an information resource. Every healthcare facility has its own specific policies and procedures that they follow, and that being said, that also includes who can do anything with the data in the system. Each care person within the facility is given a specific username for which they create their unique password, usually covering a minimum number of characters, one uppercase number, and possibly a unique character. There are also key cards that need to be swiped so that information that was entered. Audit Trials are the system's way of showing a record of every login and out of the system. This includes unsuccessful logins, queries, and anything thing else that may pertain. While this is recording all of the data I said above, it also records the person using the system and what activities they completed while on it with a timestamp. Lastly, antivirus software with a good firewall is a definite must. This prevents and stops any potential virus, malware, trojans, bots, and anything else that could compromise the system and its integrity.
RUNNING HEAD 3 Security Measure Rationale Using the three security measures I have listed above, along with encryption and a firewall, the patient's information and any sensitive business information should be safe. The facility can ensure that the patient's information is kept confidential by utilizing the access controls. By using the audit trials, you can save a record of who is accessing the data and changing it. Lastly, by using an antivirus, you ensure that your system isn't compromised by viruses or malware. Importance of Data Security Data security is a major part of the healthcare system. It is vital to keep all patients' information confidential and comply with the regulations that have been put in place by HIPAA. Before we relied on technology and started using the electronic health record system, patient files were legitimate files kept in a filing system that would have been locked up so that not many people could get to them, so they were kept safe. Now, in this electronic day and age, records are generally held on an electronic system, so sending and receiving health records and accessing them outside a specific facility is easier. That said, ensuring this information is secure makes it more complicated. This can lead to