Authors:
Sylvestre Uwizeyemungu
1
and
Placide Poba-Nzaou
2
Affiliations:
1
Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR), Canada
;
2
ÉSG – Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), Canada
Keyword(s):
IT Security, Privacy, Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability, Health Information Exchange, Healthcare Information Technology, Electronic Health Records, e-Health.
Abstract:
Alongside other health information technologies (HIT), several projects aimed at implementing electronic
health information exchange (HIE) have been initiated in European countries, with the hope of improving the
coordination, safety, and efficiency in healthcare systems. However, the electronic exchange exposes health
data to information technology (IT)-related vulnerabilities and threats, raising concerns among patients, health
care providers, and policy-makers. Drawing on data from a sample of 1123 European hospitals, we conducted
a cluster analysis to determine to what extent hospitals do live up to the IT security and privacy challenges of
electronic HIE. We produced two sets of clusters, one related to HIE usage and another related to the
implementation of IT-security practices. Through a cross-comparison, we proceeded to a match/mis-match
analysis. The results of this study depict a mixed situation: even though most of surveyed hospitals (79.2%)
have implemented IT-security pr
actices consistent with their HIE usage levels, hospitals that have failed to
do so (20.8%) pose a threat to the entire healthcare system which is becoming more and more interconnected.
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