CLOUD COMPUTING: IMPLICATIONS IN HEALTHCARE

Saba Khan                   

Cloud computing can revolutionize healthcare, due to its qualities of low cost and easy access (Reddy & Reddy, 2013). But it has also raised concerns regarding data security and patient’s privacy. The main issues in maintaining confidentiality while using cloud computing are ‘separation failure, public management interface, poor encryption key management, and privilege abuse’ (Kuo, 2011).

Multiple user access to the cloud, can pose a security risk to the patient’s data. e.g. if a user deletes data from the cloud, it will still be available on the hard disk and can be accessed by other unauthorized users (ENISA, 2009). Secondly, as the interfaces of public clouds are available on the internet, it is also a threat to the data which is related to remote access and shortcomings of web browsers (ENISA, 2009).

As the cloud data is saved in different locations, it has various legal implications (Kuo, 2011). The US Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), limits the third party disclosure of patient’s information (US Department of Health & Human Services,1996). Similarly Canadian Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) do not allow the use of such information for commercial purposes (Minister of Justice Canada, 2011).

In order to make cloud computing more secure, policies must be devised which bind the providers with legal consequences, in case of breech of privacy or patient’s data use without prior consent. This will help in developing trust amongst the users regarding data security. Secondly, when benefits of cloud computing outweigh the risks, it will become more acceptable.

Image courtesy, 'Pixaby'

References

European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) (2009). Cloud Computing: Benefits, Risks and Recommendations for Information Security. Available online at: http://www.enisa.europa.eu/act/rm/files/deliverables/cloud-computing-risk-assessment. Accessed on [01/12/2017]

Kuo, A. M.-H. (2011). Opportunities and Challenges of Cloud Computing to Improve Health Care Services. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 13(3), e67. Available online at: http://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.1867 Accessed on [01/12/2017]

Minister of Justice, Canada (2011). Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). Available online at: http://laws.justice.gc.ca/PDF/Readability/P-8.6.pdf. Accessed on [01/12/2017]

Reddy, & Reddy (2013). ‘Study of Cloud Computing in HealthCare Industry’. International Journal of Science and Engineering Research - France - ISSN : 2229-5518 Volume 4 Issue 9 - September 2013 Pages: 68-71.

US Department of Health & Human Services (1996). The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy and Security Rules. Available online at: http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/. Accessed on [01/12/2017]