[A guide to good practice for information security in the handling of personal health data by health personnel in ambulatory care facilities]

[Cybersecurity and use of ICT in the health sector]

Cybercrime in the health sector is a growing threat in the digital age. With computerization of medical records and telemedicine on the rise, cyberattacks can have devastating consequences. Leaking sensitive data or hijacking systems can compromise patient's privacy and jeopardize healthcare. To counter this threat, robust cybersecurity measures are required as a protective measure. This article aims to expose the main dangers and threats faced by ICT, as well as present cybersecurity with its bioethical implications and, finally, the ideal scheme for it in the health sector in order to create a safer and more efficient environment. This article aims to address these issues and provide a comprehensive view of how cybersecurity and ICT can coexist safely and effectively in the healthcare field.

[Digital transformation as a strategy to strengthen essential public health functions in the AmericasTransformação digital como estratégia de fortalecimento das funções essenciais de saúde pública nas Américas]

This article systematizes the main actions taken to address the essential public health functions (EPHF) in the context of the digital transformation of health systems. A narrative review was conducted, in which the conceptual framework of the renewed EPHF was linked to the eight guiding principles of the digital transformation of the health sector.In the selected publications, the main actions in digital transformation included electronic health records, telemedicine, digital health legislation, digital literacy, patient portals, open-source technologies, and data governance. These actions make it possible to increase the quality and efficiency of health systems, promote accessibility, and improve health outcomes.

Confidencialidad de datos en un hospital-escuela dedicado a la investigación

La información clínica que deriva de la atención médica es almacenada en los expedientes clínicos que se encuentran en archivos físicos o electrónicos en las distintas instituciones hospitalarias que se dedican a la enseñanza. Esta valiosa información constituye una herramienta fundamental en la investigación clínica, por lo tanto, debe de ser considerada confidencial desde que el paciente la remite hasta después de finalizar su tratamiento. Cuando los miembros de un hospital-escuela realizan actividades de investigación, utilizan la información contenida en los expedientes clínicos. La confidencialidad de estos registros es protegida por la ley, por esta razón es necesario fundamentar y desarrollar un método que ayude a los investigadores a conocer estos datos clínicos sin violar su privacidad y confidencialidad. Es necesario cuestionarnos si un aviso de privacidad que indique a los pacientes que la información derivada de sus padecimientos puede utilizarse posteriormente para fines de investigación será suficiente para resolver los conflictos relacionados con la obtención de datos. Un aviso de privacidad es un documento legal que se utiliza para la protección de datos de las personas, aplicarlo en las instituciones hospitalarias dedicadas a la enseñanza y a la investigación facilitará el uso de la información derivada de las consultas y mantendrá la confianza de que los datos utilizados en la investigación respetarán, la confidencialidad y la privacidad, a través del anonimato.

[Opinion of doctors and users on e-health advances in primary care]

OBJECTIVE

To find out the opinions of users and primary care doctors on the progress of e-health in primary care.

DESIGN

Focus groups set up between 1st May and 25th September 2018.

LOCATION

Primary care level in regional online health services.

PARTICIPANTS

A total of 29 users and 33 primary care doctors linked to primary care that were contacted, through user associations and regional public health services, respectively.

METHOD

Inductive analysis of transcripts from focus groups about the following issues: accessibility and security; efficiency; information and technical problems; potentialities.

RESULTS

Online health services are positively valued in terms of cost savings both by users and doctors of primary care. Nevertheless, face-to-face interaction is still considered a key factor in the quality of service. When it comes to the access and provision of e-health services, there is shared concern for the security of the data and for the training deficiencies of users and doctors. An adequate design of the applications becomes a condition for the acceptance and diffusion of technologies that support online health.

CONCLUSIONS

Health authorities should intensify the use of new technologies oriented towards easing the work of doctors, simplifying bureaucratic tasks, providing diagnostic and prescription security, and protecting data. As long as systems generate failures and mistrust, new technologies will remain to be perceived as a complement, but not as an alternative to the traditional care model.

Reusable Software Usability Specifications for mHealth Applications

One of the key factors for the adoption of mobile technologies, and in particular of mobile health applications, is usability. A usable application will be easier to use and understand by users, and will improve user's interaction with it. This paper proposes a software requirements catalog for usable mobile health applications, which can be used for the development of new applications, or the evaluation of existing ones. The catalog is based on the main identified sources in literature on usability and mobile health applications. Our catalog was organized according to the ISO/IEC/IEEE 29148:2011 standard and follows the SIREN methodology to create reusable catalogs. The applicability of the catalog was verified by the creation of an audit method, which was used to perform the evaluation of a real app, S Health, application created by Samsung Electronics Co. The usability requirements catalog, along with the audit method, identified several usability flaws on the evaluated app, which scored 83%. Some flaws were detected in the app related to the navigation pattern. Some more issues related to the startup experience, empty screens or writing style were also found. The way a user navigates through an application improves or deteriorates user's experience with the application. We proposed a reusable usability catalog and an audit method. This proposal was used to evaluate a mobile health application. An audit report was created with the usability issues identified on the evaluated application.

Technical solutions for mitigating security threats caused by health professionals in clinical settings

The objective of this paper is to present a brief description of technical solutions for health information system security threats caused by inadequate security and privacy practices in healthcare professionals. A literature search was carried out in ScienceDirect, ACM Digital Library and IEEE Digital Library to find papers reporting technical solutions for certain security problems in information systems used in clinical settings. A total of 17 technical solutions were identified: measures for password security, the secure use of e-mail, the Internet, portable storage devices, printers and screens. Although technical safeguards are essential to the security of healthcare organization's information systems, good training, awareness programs and adopting a proper information security policy are particularly important to prevent insiders from causing security incidents.

Analysis of health professional security behaviors in a real clinical setting: an empirical study

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this paper is to evaluate the security behavior of healthcare professionals in a real clinical setting.

METHOD

Standards, guidelines and recommendations on security and privacy best practices for staff personnel were identified using a systematic literature review. After a revision process, a questionnaire consisting of 27 questions was created and responded to by 180 health professionals from a public hospital.

RESULTS

Weak passwords were reported by 62.2% of the respondents, 31.7% were unaware of the organization's procedures for discarding confidential information, and 19.4% did not carry out these procedures. Half of the respondents (51.7%) did not take measures to ensure that the personal health information on the computer monitor could not be seen by unauthorized individuals, and 57.8% were unaware of the procedure established to report a security violation. The correlation between the number of years in the position and good security practices was not significant (Pearson's r=0.085, P=0.254). Age was weakly correlated with good security practices (Pearson's r=-0.169, P=0.028). A Mann-Whitney test showed no significant difference between the respondents' security behavior as regards gender (U=2536, P=0.792, n=178). The results of the study suggest that more efforts are required to improve security education for health personnel.

CONCLUSIONS

It was found that both preventive and corrective actions are needed to prevent health staff from causing security incidents. Healthcare organizations should: identify the types of information that require protection, clearly communicate the penalties that will be imposed, promote security training courses, and define what the organization considers improper behavior to be and communicate this to all personnel.

Empirical studies on usability of mHealth apps: a systematic literature review

The release of smartphones and tablets, which offer more advanced communication and computing capabilities, has led to the strong emergence of mHealth on the market. mHealth systems are being used to improve patients' lives and their health, in addition to facilitating communication between doctors and patients. Researchers are now proposing mHealth applications for many health conditions such as dementia, autism, dysarthria, Parkinson's disease, and so on. Usability becomes a key factor in the adoption of these applications, which are often used by people who have problems when using mobile devices and who have a limited experience of technology. The aim of this paper is to investigate the empirical usability evaluation processes described in a total of 22 selected studies related to mHealth applications by means of a Systematic Literature Review. Our results show that the empirical evaluation methods employed as regards usability could be improved by the adoption of automated mechanisms. The evaluation processes should also be revised to combine more than one method. This paper will help researchers and developers to create more usable applications. Our study demonstrates the importance of adapting health applications to users' need.

Mobile PHRs compliance with Android and iOS usability guidelines

Mobile Personal Health Records (PHRs) have achieved a particularly strong market share since the appearance of more powerful mobile devices and popular worldwide mobile application markets such as Apple's App Store and Android's Google Play. However, Android and Apple have a set of recommendations on design and usability targeted towards developers who wish to publish apps in their stores: Android Design Guidelines and iOS Human Interface Guidelines. This paper aims to evaluate compliance with these guidelines by assessing the usability recommendations of a set of 24 selected mobile PHR applications. An analysis process based on a well-known Systematic Literature Review (SLR) protocol was used. The results show that the 24 mobile PHR applications studied are not suitably structured. 46 % of these applications do not use any of the recommended patterns, using instead lists or springboards, which are deprecated patterns for top-level menus. 70 % of the PHRs require a registration to be able to test the application when these interactions should be delayed. Our study will help both PHR users to select user-friendly mobile PHRs and PHR providers and developers to identify the good usability practices implemented by the applications with the highest scores.