Secure EMRs??

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There was a recent article posted in Medpage Today that is calling for better safeguards for medical records of patients.  The article discussed how easy it is to hack into the EMR for hospitals that have unsecured wireless networks—which is disturbing (why are they NOT secure?).  Government auditors proved how easy it was by actually sitting in the parking lots of hospitals and hacking into patient’s medical records.  I am bringing this to our attention for when we head to our summer rotations.  We should figure out if the hospital is using a secure network. (!!)  There are some other areas we should be evaluating that I will be listing below.

These are the additional recommendations from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology:
  • Use encryption, a password or other user authentication.
  • Ensure wiping and/or remote disabling in case a device is stolen or lost.
  • Don't use file-sharing. Do use firewalls.
  • Use security software to detect viruses, spyware, malware, and keep it current.
  • Don't download apps casually; research them.
  • Don't let your devices out of your control.
  • Use security when using public Wi-Fi.
  • Wipe devices clean before discarding them.

Here’s the full article: http://www.medpagetoday.com/PracticeManagement/Medicolegal/37598?utm_content=&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=DailyHeadlines&utm_source=WC&xid=NL_DHE_2013-03-01&eun=g411013d0r&userid=411013&email=knowledge@eatright.org&mu_id=5511392

-RR

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