Data Security, Cybersecurity, and Integration Issues in Advanced Technologies

Data Security, Cybersecurity, and Integration Issues in Advanced Technologies

The fast adoption and integration of advanced healthcare settings have brought about multiple benefits. However, data privacy and cybersecurity concerns, which are barriers to the integration of new technologies into clinical practice, remain an issue with these advanced technologies. As such, this article explores available literature to best explain the issues of advanced technology in healthcare, identify elements of the issue, analyze its contributing factors, contextualize the issues, and discuss possible solutions and ethical considerations if a potential solution was implemented.

A Description of the Selected Health Care Problem or Issue

Data Security, Cybersecurity, and Integration Issues in Advanced Technologies

The healthcare environment has experienced a rapid adoption and integration of new technologies, especially in clinical practice settings. Most of the rapid integration is fueled by technological advancements in healthcare, especially in the areas of artificial intelligence (AI), telehealth and telemedicine, big data analytics, mHealth, genetic mapping technologies, and the Internet of Things (IoT). These new technologies offer major potential benefits in healthcare with notable improvements in disease diagnostics, treatment modalities, and patient care. Notably, the integration of advanced technologies has supported convenience in the delivery of care and enabled the personalization of medicine. Most importantly, these technologies have significantly improved operational and clinical efficiency in healthcare (Mahoney, 2020).

On the other hand, even though these new and advanced technologies provide major benefits in healthcare, the concerns over data privacy, cybersecurity, and ethics of the use of these technologies, as well as issues with integration, remain unresolved. Recent years with the integration of these digital have led to increased concerns over the privacy and security of patient information as more health facilities, especially hospitals and related organizations, have become targets for cybersecurity criminals. Data breaches result in loss of patient data, unauthorized access to such patient data and health information, disruption in patient care, and mistrust of healthcare systems. In addition, the use of technologies such as telehealth and telemedicine in care delivery further raises legal, ethical, and social issues, including patient autonomy and informed consent in the use of health information, as well as equity in the access to care using these technologies (Kaplan, 2022).

Factors Contributing to the Identified Health Care Issue

The factors contributing to the development of data privacy, cybersecurity, and integration concerns are either regulatory, human factors, or system factors. Evidence largely links human factors to a majority of cybersecurity issues within healthcare organizations. For instance, Nifakos et al. (2021) note that the lack of awareness of cybersecurity risks, poor digital and password hygiene, and insider threats contribute to most cybersecurity breaches in healthcare settings. Poor digital hygiene is also linked to increased workload, work stress, and a poor organizational cybersecurity culture that does not focus on cybersecurity training and other measures. From a digital systems perspective, unmaintained legacy software lacks updated cybersecurity standards and security measures, which, in turn, increases vulnerability to cyber-attacks and data breaches (Tervoort et al., 2020).

Analysis and Framing of Data Security, Cybersecurity, and Integration Issues

Healthcare technologies are being integrated into all aspects of the healthcare system, from clinical practice and policy development to reimbursement management systems. Hence, the issues of data privacy, cybersecurity, and integration affect all organizations that handle and manage patient health data. However, clinics and hospitals are at an increased risk of data and privacy breaches as a majority of such health organizations utilize outdated systems, or most users lack sufficient knowledge and digital etiquette.

The issues of data privacy, cybersecurity, and integration problems are important to me as a nurse, as my practice is significantly becoming dependent on health information systems, including electronic health records (EHRs) and telehealth. The existence of privacy and cybersecurity threats has a negative impact on both my practice and the organization’s finances and reputation. Loss of patient data in my settings due to data breaches may create trust issues with the patients as well as lead to costly lawsuits. In addition, data breaches have the potential to compromise patient and the efficiency of care planning and delivery. On the other hand, the problem of integration is also important to me as a nurse as it defines the rate of adoption and usability of the technologies. Integration of these technologies in healthcare settings can also create inequalities in healthcare access and delivery. For example, people from lower socioeconomic settings and those with low digital literacy may find it hard to utilize technologies such as telehealth services, which will impact how they access health services if only digital systems are utilized.

Considering Potential Solution Options for Resolving Data Security, Cybersecurity, and Integration Issues in Health Care

There are several solutions that can be employed to manage and resolve data privacy. One major solution is to provide comprehensive cyber and digital safety training programs for healthcare professionals and other users. The focus of training programs needs to focus on data security, digital etiquette, and systems maintenance. The training will ensure that users are aware of the risks of cybersecurity, contributing factors, and how to protect themselves when using these technologies. The other solution is to upgrade current technologies to the newest ones that meet the current cybersecurity standards. Notably, this can ensure that most threats that utilize existing system vulnerabilities are eliminated. The third solution is to set up regulations that require all health services providers and data handlers to meet specified privacy and security standards for handling healthcare information.

The Proposed Solution

The proposed solution is to provide comprehensive cyber and digital safety training programs for healthcare professionals and other users. The education program will include training to improve digital etiquette, maintaining vigilance when using healthcare information systems, and systems maintenance, including checking for updates and making minor software updates. All healthcare professionals and other users will also be educated on reporting any suspected cybersecurity threats. Not implementing this solution and ignoring the issues of data privacy and cybersecurity risks has the potential to lead to more data breaches and loss of patient data. Such breaches can also result in identity theft, expensive lawsuits, and loss of patient trust. Notably, this can also lead to disruptions in care delivery and delays in patient care, which can cause further complications and result in unplanned costs. The pros of the proposed solution – providing comprehensive cyber and digital safety training programs for healthcare professionals and other users– include improving data security by ensuring all users understand the related risks, increasing awareness of threats and impacts, and reducing incidents of insider threats. However, training may be costly, and there are no guarantees all individuals will follow through with their training.

Ethical Implications of Implementing the Solution

Implementing the training programs has major implications on the ethical principles of beneficence, nonmaleficence, autonomy, and justice. To start with, the focus of the training is to improve digital literacy and hygiene among healthcare professionals and other users. This will help achieve the ethical principles of beneficence and nonmaleficence as it will improve the protection of patient health information and help avoid any harm to patients related to data breaches. It will also ensure that health professionals can share and access data without delays or unauthorized alterations, thereby ensuring safe and quality care is delivered to the patients. Training healthcare professionals and users of health data will also ensure that they understand essential data governance and respect and allow patients to have the right to access and control how their information is utilized and shared. Subsequently, this will resolve the legal and ethical issues related to patient autonomy and health data ownership, as discussed by Chiruvella and Guddati (2021). In addition, training healthcare professionals and other users on technology usage will improve their digital literacy to overcome the integration challenges. As a result, this will allow equitable utilization of healthcare technologies and help achieve the ethical principle of justice.

Conclusion

In conclusion, despite the potential benefits of healthcare technologies, data privacy, cybersecurity, and the challenges of integration of new technologies persist within healthcare and clinical practice. Such issues have significant ethical, legal, and social impacts that impact individuals, patients, and healthcare organizations. If the full potential of healthcare technologies is to be realized, a multisectoral approach that encompasses training users, upgrading information technologies, and improving the security of data systems needs to be implemented.

References

Chiruvella, V., & Guddati, A. K. (2021). Ethical issues in patient data ownership. Interact J Med Res 2021;10(2):E22269 Https://Www.i-Jmr.Org/2021/2/E22269, 10(2), e22269. https://doi.org/10.2196/22269

Kaplan, B. (2022). Ethics, guidelines, standards, and policy: Telemedicine, COVID-19, and broadening the ethical scope. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics, 31(1), 105–118. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0963180121000852

Mahoney, M. F. (2020). Telehealth, telemedicine, and related technologic platforms: Current practice and response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Wound, Ostomy, and Continence Nursing: Official Publication of the Wound, Ostomy and Continence Nurses Society, 47(5), 439–444. https://doi.org/10.1097/WON.0000000000000694

Nifakos, S., Chandramouli, K., Nikolaou, C. K., Papachristou, P., Koch, S., Panaousis, E., & Bonacina, S. (2021). Influence of human factors on cyber security within healthcare organizations: A systematic review. Sensors 2021, Vol. 21, Page 5119, 21(15), 5119. https://doi.org/10.3390/S21155119

Tervoort, T., De Oliveira, M. T., Pieters, W., Van Gelder, P., Olabarriaga, S. D., & Marquering, H. (2020). Solutions for mitigating cybersecurity risks caused by legacy software in medical devices: A scoping review. IEEE Access, 8, 84352–84361. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2020.2984376

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Write a 4-6 page analysis of a current problem or issue in health care, including a proposed solution and possible ethical implications.

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Introduction
In your healthcare career, you will be confronted with many problems that demand a solution. By using research skills, you can learn what others are doing and saying about similar problems. Then, you can analyze the problem and the people and systems it affects. You can also examine potential solutions and their ramifications. This assessment allows you to practice this approach with a real-world problem.

Data Security, Cybersecurity, and Integration Issues in Advanced Technologies

Instructions
Note: The requirements outlined below correspond to the grading criteria in the scoring guide. At a minimum, be sure to address each point. In addition, you are encouraged to review the performance-level descriptions for each criterion to see how your work will be assessed.

Describe the healthcare problem or issue you selected for use in Assessment 2 and provide details about it.
Explore your chosen topic. For this, you should use the first four steps of the Socratic Problem-Solving Approach to aid your critical thinking. This approach was introduced in Assessment 2.
Identify possible causes for the problem or issue.
Use scholarly information to describe and explain the health care problem or issue and identify possible causes for it.
Identify at least three scholarly or academic peer-reviewed journal articles about the topic.
You may find the How Do I Find Peer-Reviewed Articles? library guide helpful in locating appropriate references.
You may use articles you found while working on Assessment 2 or you may search the Capella library for other articles.
Use scholarly or academic peer-reviewed journal articles published during the past 3–5 years that relate to your topic
You may find the applicable Undergraduate Library Research Guide helpful in your search.
Review the Think Critically About Source Quality to help you complete the following:
Assess the credibility of the information sources.
Assess the relevance of the information sources.
Analyze the health care problem or issue.
Describe the setting or context for the problem or issue.
Describe why the problem or issue is important to you.
Identify groups of people affected by the problem or issue.
Provide examples that support your analysis of the problem or issue.
Discuss potential solutions for the health care problem or issue.
Describe what would be required to implement a solution.
Describe the potential consequences of ignoring the problem or issue.
Provide the pros and cons of one of the solutions you are proposing.
Explain the ethical principles (Beneficence, Nonmaleficence, Autonomy, and Justice) if a potential solution was implemented.
Describe what would be necessary to implement the proposed solution.
Explain the ethical principles that need to be considered (Beneficence, Nonmaleficence, Autonomy, and Justice) if the potential solution is implemented.
Provide examples from the literature to support the points you are making.