Medical Information Protection Research Articles

Research on Personal Medical Information Protection Based on Big Data

The rapid development of big data, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence has brought new opportunities to the development of the medical field. The emergence of electronic medical records and medical information systems has provided great convenience for people's medical treatment. However, the arrival of the big data era also poses new challenges to the protection of human medical privacy. The development and application of medical big data have led to explosive growth of data in the medical field, putting pressure on the management of medical institutions. The sharing of medical data between medical institutions and between medical institutions and third parties also poses significant security risks. Moreover, medical data leakage incidents have been continuously exposed in recent years, seriously infringing on the identity and privacy rights of patients. This article aims to explore the research on personal medical information protection based on big data. Firstly, the importance and necessity of protecting personal medical information were analyzed, as well as the current application status and existing problems of big data in medical information management. Secondly, a comparative analysis of domestic and international research on medical privacy protection was elaborated, including the analysis of medical information privacy protection standards in the United States, Europe, and Asia, and the differences and commonalities of international medical information privacy protection standards were compared and analyzed. Then, the theoretical basis of medical information privacy protection was summarized. Then, the application methods and technologies of big data in personal medical information protection were discussed. Finally, relevant countermeasures and suggestions for the protection of personal medical information in big data were discussed, including privacy protection technologies and policy recommendations, as well as ethical issues and norms for the protection of medical information privacy. Through this study, it is hoped that it can provide reference and inspiration for the protection of personal medical information in big data, and provide ideas and suggestions for future development directions.

Privacy information protection of medical internet based on double chaos encryption algorithm

In order to avoid the risk of patients’ private information leakage, this paper puts forward a research on the protection of medical Internet private information based on double chaotic encryption algorithm. This paper analyzes the quantification of risk indicators for privacy information protection of medical Internet, establishes the risk quantification structure of health care big data according to the quantitative calculation results, and puts forward the strategy of controlling access to health care big data, configuring the risk level, describing the attributes of the system database, and realizing the privacy information protection of medical Internet under the double chaotic encryption algorithm. The experimental results show that the real identity of patients is protected to a certain extent in the protection of private information of medical internet after applying this method. Moreover, this method has high storage integrity and small storage standard deviation, and the method in this paper can effectively resist network intrusion. Therefore, it shows that this method has a good effect of protecting private information of medical Internet.

Research on Preventing Medical Information from Leaking based on Homomorphic Encryption

The security and privacy protection of medical information is one of the important challenges facing today's society. Disclosure of medical information can lead to invasion of patient privacy, reputational damage to medical institutions, and potential legal liability. Therefore, it is very important to take effective measures to prevent the leakage of medical information. Information encryption is a common technical means, which can effectively protect the security and privacy of medical information. The purpose of this paper is to discuss how to prevent medical information leakage through information encryption. First, we describe the sensitivity and importance of medical information, as well as the current security challenges. Then, we discuss in detail the basic principles of information encryption and common encryption algorithms, including symmetric encryption and asymmetric encryption. Next, we explore the specific application scenarios of medical information encryption, such as electronic medical records, medical images and encryption protection during transmission. We also discuss the advantages and challenges of healthcare information encryption and propose some solutions such as key management and access control. Finally, we summarize the importance of information encryption in preventing medical information leakage and emphasize the need for further research and practice to ensure the security and privacy protection of medical information.

Nursing students’ awareness and performance of patient medical information protection

Purpose: This study aims to understand the awareness, and practices of nursing students regarding patient medical information protection (PMIP). Methods: This study is a descriptive correlational research to determine the relationship between awareness and practice of PMIP. Data collection took place from August 1 to 15, 2022, with 119 nursing students from a nursing college in Daegu, South Korea. Differences in awareness and practice of PMIP according to general characteristics were analyzed using independent t-tests and one-way ANOVA. The correlation between awareness and practices was analyzed using Pearson correlation. Results: The awareness for PMIP of nursing students (4.35±0.43) was significantly higher than the performance score (4.20±0.57). By domain, the Awareness in the management domain was the highest, linked with the performance in the referral of tasks domain. However, the perception and performance scores were lower in the communication domain. PMIP awareness showed significant differences based on education type, direct lectures, and religion. Performance were higher when the education venue was the university. There was a strong correlation between nursing students’ awareness and practice of PMIP. Conclusion: To enhance nursing students’ awareness and practices in patient personal information protection, the development of educational programs reflecting the higher effectiveness of school-based education compared to hospital-based education is necessary.

A Multi-Faceted Encryption Strategy for Securing Patient Information in Medical Imaging

In modern healthcare, transmitting digital medical images through open-source networks for diagnosis in remote centers poses a significant security challenge due to the sensitive patient information involved. This paper presents an algorithm designed to encrypt these crucial medical images comprehensively. The algorithm generates hash code to validate image integrity, followed by feature-based watermarking, transformation into the frequency domain via Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT), and encryption using Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) and RSA encryption techniques. Each step plays a pivotal role in fortifying the images against unauthorized access, tampering, or interception during transmission, Guaranteeing the secrecy, unaltered state, and legitimacy of the included medical information. Implementing this encryption algorithm mandates strict adherence to cryptographic best practices, robust execution of encryption algorithms, secure key management, and compliance with industry standards. These meticulous measures bolster the confidentiality and integrity of medical images, which are crucial in protecting patient privacy and maintaining data integrity within healthcare systems. This comprehensive encryption strategy addresses the need for the purpose of ensuring safe and protected delivery and protection of sensitive medical information across networks.

Research of Cryptographic Information Protection Technology in Health and Medical Care Field of China

Cryptography technology based on domestic algorithms for the use of informatization in the health and medical care field of China is classified and researched in the paper. In the trend of medical services gradually transitioning from "closed" to "open", the medical information security environment is not optimistic. It is emphasized that with the correct settings and selection of the necessary cryptographic stability of the encryption algorithm, the technology is safe and independent, ensures the safety of medical data and facilitates the circulation of medical services. Cryptography technology service realizes the identity authenticity of medical data access subjects, the confidentiality and integrity protection of medical health information in the process of sharing and storage, the protection of sensitive information in the process of access, query and use, and the secure data cochain in the whole process, and ensures that the cryptographic application is secure, independent and controllable, truly achieves the security of medical health data and promotes the open sharing of health services

Medical Information Protection in Internet Hospital Apps in China: Scale Development and Content Analysis.

Hospital apps are increasingly being adopted in many countries, especially since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Web-based hospitals can provide valuable medical services and enhanced accessibility. However, increasing concerns about personal information (PI) and strict legal compliance requirements necessitate privacy assessments for these platforms. Guided by the theory of contextual integrity, this study investigates the regulatory compliance of privacy policies for internet hospital apps in the mainland of China. In this paper, we aim to evaluate the regulatory compliance of privacy policies of internet hospital apps in the mainland of China and offer recommendations for improvement. We obtained 59 internet hospital apps on November 7, 2023, and reviewed 52 privacy policies available between November 8 and 23, 2023. We developed a 3-level indicator scale based on the information processing activities, as stipulated in relevant regulations. The scale comprised 7 level-1 indicators, 26 level-2 indicators, and 70 level-3 indicators. The mean compliance score of the 52 assessed apps was 73/100 (SD 22.4%), revealing a varied spectrum of compliance. Sensitive PI protection compliance (mean 73.9%, SD 24.2%) lagged behind general PI protection (mean 90.4%, SD 14.7%), with only 12 apps requiring separate consent for processing sensitive PI (mean 73.9%, SD 24.2%). Although most apps (n=41, 79%) committed to supervising subcontractors, only a quarter (n=13, 25%) required users' explicit consent for subcontracting activities. Concerning PI storage security (mean 71.2%, SD 29.3%) and incident management (mean 71.8%, SD 36.6%), half of the assessed apps (n=27, 52%) committed to bear corresponding legal responsibility, whereas fewer than half (n=24, 46%) specified the security level obtained. Most privacy policies stated the PI retention period (n=40, 77%) and instances of PI deletion or anonymization (n=41, 79%), but fewer (n=20, 38.5%) committed to prompt third-party PI deletion. Most apps delineated various individual rights, but only a fraction addressed the rights to obtain copies (n=22, 42%) or to refuse advertisement based on automated decision-making (n=13, 25%). Significant deficiencies remained in regular compliance audits (mean 11.5%, SD 37.8%), impact assessments (mean 13.5%, SD 15.2%), and PI officer disclosure (mean 48.1%, SD 49.3%). Our analysis revealed both strengths and significant shortcomings in the compliance of internet hospital apps' privacy policies with relevant regulations. As China continues to implement internet hospital apps, it should ensure the informed consent of users for PI processing activities, enhance compliance levels of relevant privacy policies, and fortify PI protection enforcement across the information processing stages.

A critical review of the state of computer security in the health sector

There is growing concern about IT security in the healthcare sector due to the number of cyberattacks. The objective of the review is to analyze the state of adoption of computer security in the healthcare sector and provide valuable knowledge to researchers and health organizations interested in this field of study. An exhaustive search of international and regional articles on computer security in healthcare organizations was conducted using Scopus, Dimensions, and pubMed databases. Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analysis (PRISMA) statement was used for the selection of articles published between 2018 and 2022. The final number of articles considered is 50. The review explored approaches related to computer security types, mechanisms, and technologies. The findings reveal that blockchain is the most widely used technology to protect medical information. In addition, network, software, and hardware security approaches are employed, using mechanisms such as data encryption, authentication, and access control. Based on these findings, a perimeter security model for the protection of medical information is proposed. In conclusion, these results highlight the importance of adopting robust security measures in terms of networks, software, and hardware, as well as adopting blockchain technology to improve data security in the healthcare sector.

UtilityAware: A framework for data privacy protection in e-health

Data privacy in e-health deals with the protection of sensitive medical information that is collected, stored, and analyzed in electronic health systems. Several organizations publish sensitive person-specific data for research purposes. E-health data and related domains are the loci of research. First, in publishing sensitive person-specific datasets, ensuring the privacy of user sensitive information is an issue. Secondly, ascertaining both privacy-preservation and data utility simultaneously are contradictory to each other. In addition, all transactions have the same prior belief that may result in erroneous modeling and privacy breaches. To refrain from the belief of an adversary and to solve the above discussed issues, a semantic privacy guarantee must be ensured before publishing data by any organization. This paper proposes a solution to the former issue, a framework for privacy preservation of structured datasets in ascertaining that an adversary has low confidence in extrapolation. The latter problem is also tackled by the proposed framework that combines stratified sampling with generalization to achieve representative semantic privacy-preservation with high data utility. Moreover, this study presents a mathematical proof that the proposed framework achieves differential privacy. Our experimental results show that our algorithm provides better data utility and privacy simultaneously. The proposed framework achieves 3% and 0.04% higher classification accuracy and low relative error, respectively, compared to state-of-the-art existing privacy-preservation approaches.

Blockchain-Based Medical Decision Support System

An urgent task at this moment is the use of blockchain technology to ensure the security of medical decision support systems (MDSS). Our research is devoted to development of blockchain-based MDSS (regarding possibility or impossibility of organ and tissue donation/transplantation, regarding possibility or impossibility of using reproductive technologies in the treatment of infertility). The developed blockchain-based medical decision support system provides reliable protection and security of medical information through the use of blockchain technology, provides support of decision regarding possibility or impossibility of organ and tissue donation/transplantation, provides support of decision regarding possibility or impossibility of use of reproductive technologies in the infertility treatment. The proposed blockchain-based medical decision support system: automates medical decision-making processes, minimizes the human factor and its influence on the medical decision process, and takes into account the norms of current legislation when making medical decisions, thereby allowing not to pay for the services of a hired lawyer, and also works with verified and protected medical data entered in the blockchain, which allows you to get rid of leaks of medical information and to ensure reliable protection of medical data.

A novel reversible fragile watermarking method in DWT domain for tamper localization and digital image authentication

Medical images are extremely valuable and sensitive data because of their significance in research, diagnosis, and treatment. However, the transmission of medical images over an unsecured network can lead to security issues such as modification, removal, copying, and unauthorized access. For this reason, the protection of medical information is of great importance. This paper proposes a novel reversible fragile digital watermarking method for tamper localization and authenticity and integrity protection in medical images. In the proposed method, the host image is firstly divided into 8×8 non-overlapped blocks. Then the image is transformed to the frequency domain by applying a Discrete Wavelet Transform, and the watermark information is embedded. Finally, the image is converted from the frequency domain to the spatial domain using an inverse Discrete Wavelet Transform. During this transformation, an intelligent optimization technique is used to correct the rounding errors and obtain the watermarked image with the highest level of imperceptibility. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method offers a watermarked image with high imperceptibility, extracts the host image lossless during the watermark extraction phase, and performs tamper localization with high precision.

ChatGPT: Exploring the Role of Cybersecurity in the Protection of Medical Information

ChatGPT is a large language model developed by OpenAI. It is trained on a dataset of conversational text and can be used to generate human-like responses to prompts in a variety of languages and formats. It can be used for tasks such as chatbots, language translation, and text completion. The role of ChatGPT is to generate human-like text based on a given prompt or context. It can be used in a variety of applications such as chatbots, language translation, text completion, and question answering. Additionally, it can be fine-tuned for specific tasks such as generating product descriptions or summarizing articles. It can also be used to generate creative writing such as poetry and stories. It can be integrated into a wide range of industries from customer service to entertainment, to research.

Medical Image Authentication Method Based on the Wavelet Packet and Energy Entropy

The transmission of digital medical information is affected by data compression, noise, scaling, labeling, and other factors. At the same time, medical data may be illegally copied and maliciously tampered with without authorization. Therefore, the copyright protection and integrity authentication of medical information are worthy of attention. In this paper, based on the wavelet packet and energy entropy, a new method of medical image authentication is designed. The proposed method uses the sliding window to measure the energy of the detail information. In the time–frequency data distribution, the local details of the data are mined. The complexity of energy is quantitatively described to highlight the valuable information. Based on the energy weight, the local energy entropy is constructed and normalized. The adjusted entropy value is used as the feature vector of the authentication information. A series of experiments show that the authentication method has good robustness against shearing attacks, median filtering, contrast enhancement, brightness enhancement, salt-and-pepper noise, Gaussian noise, multiplicative noise, image rotation, scaling attacks, sharpening, JPEG compression, and other attacks.

ECONOMIC POLICY OF THE STATE IN CONDITIONS OF INFORMATIZATION OF HEALTH CARE IN UKRAINE AS AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE SOCIAL SPHERE

The purpose of the article is to analyze domestic and international legal norms on the protection of medical information in order to improve the system of national legislation in the field of health care. The methodological basis of this study is a system of methods, the set of which is determined by the purpose and features of the study: dialectical, systemic, system-structural, analytical-synthetic, comparative-legal methods of analysis of domestic and international legal regulation of economic policy of the state in the conditions of informatization of health care of Ukraine. It argues that Ukraine, seeking to integrate into the European space and building its own strategy of economic development, must be clearly aware of both its capabilities and external factors of influence. The choice of possible alternatives is too complex a task, but the leading idea of socio-economic policy should remain the desire to ensure sustainable economic development of the country. In particular, the following is analyzed: recent international and domestic normative acts regulating state economic policy activities in the field of health care informatization in Ukraine: in particular, General Data Protection Regulation of the European Union (GDPR), CMS Interoperability and Patient Access Final Rule, ONC's Cure Act Final Rule, Order of functioning of the electronic health care system of Ukraine; materials of judicial practice, including materials of cases of the European Court of Human Rights, the results of sociological research. A comparative analysis of the GDPR and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was conducted. The main problematic issues of state economic policy in the context of health informatization in Ukraine are highlighted. Compared to previous regulations governing medical data, the GDPR pays much more attention to the implementation of new requirements that have arisen due to the growing digitalization of healthcare, and therefore may contribute to strengthening their protection. Results. It is theoretically substantiated that quality medical reform is possible only with the introduction of modern methods of informatization and, consequently, information protection. As the analysis has shown, currently in Ukraine the legal system providing information protection in the medical sphere needs immediate improvement. This requires: systematizing and codifying national legislation in accordance with European legal norms and international law; developing a comprehensive legislative act, which would regulate the collection, protection and transition of medical information at the legislative level, following the example of GDPR (for structuring the medical information system, ensuring mandatory certification for information protection, development of cryptography/encryption technologies, delimitation of rights of access to information for medical workers, ensuring access to information with mandatory use of electronic signature, medical workers need to take short courses and register with information security specialists (defined access rights and the ability to change the level of access, provide input for identification and authentication), correcting data and entering new information is carried out with a confirmation of electronic signature, develop an algorithm for transferring information between medical institutions).

Adaptive Control of Chaotic Signals: Investigated by Simulation Software and Real Electronic Circuits

Chaotic behavior is complicated, sensitive, and has the feature of great variety, which are the most potential signals to be applied in data encryption, secure communication, medical information protection, etc. As a consequence, in this paper, we try to propose three different ways to show our data generating results step by step, which means it can be proved effectively and used in practice: (1) Chaotic solutions simulated by MATLAB, (2) chaotic motion drawn via electronic circuits software Multisim, and (3) chaotic signal implemented on real electronic circuits with breadboard. In advance, following the same design principal, the adaptive chaotic signal is also designed and presented in the end of this article for further study, which provides a more flexible and variable chaotic signal to enhance the encryption effectiveness. The experimental results are extremely close to the two simulation results and can definitely be technically transferred to real encryption application.

Medical Records Management with Decentralized Framework

The mystery between the emotional improvement of medical information protection interest and long periods of administrative guideline has eased back advancement for electronic medical records (EMRs). In this paper, we propose a efficient, secure and decentralized Blockchain system for data privacy preserving and sharing. This manages confidentiality, authentication, data preserving and data sharing when handling sensitive information. We exploit consortium Blockchain and smart contracts to accomplish secure information storage and sharing, which forestalls information sharing without consent. The patient’s historical data, medical record, patient’s private information is very critical and needs to be stored and maintained securely. The proposed framework builds information security and eliminates the cost, time, and assets needed to deal with the medical care information records.

A Comprehensive Review on Medical Image Steganography Based on LSB Technique and Potential Challenges

The rapid development of telemedicine services and the requirements for exchanging medical information between physicians, consultants, and health institutions have made the protection of patients’ information an important priority for any future e-health system. The protection of medical information, including the cover (i.e. medical image), has a specificity that slightly differs from the requirements for protecting other information. It is necessary to preserve the cover greatly due to its importance on the reception side as medical staff use this information to provide a diagnosis to save a patient's life. If the cover is tampered with, this leads to failure in achieving the goal of telemedicine. Therefore, this work provides an investigation of information security techniques in medical imaging, focusing on security goals. Encrypting a message before hiding them gives an extra layer of security, and thus, will provide an excellent solution to protect the sensitive information of patients during the sharing of medical information. Medical image steganography is a special case of image steganography, while Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) is the backbone of all medical imaging divisions, whereby it is most broadly used to store and transmit medical images. The main objective of this study is to provide a general idea of what Least Significant Bit-based (LSB) steganography techniques have achieved in medical images.

Factors Affecting Nursing Students' Practice of Medical Information Protection.

Infringement of personal medical information can lead to psychological, social, and economic damages; legal repercussions; information abuse; and invasion of patients' privacy. This study identified the effects of nursing students' ethical inclination, knowledge, and perception on their medical information protection practice. Participants were third- and fourth-year students of one nursing college in a city in South Korea. Participants' perception of the importance of medical information protection was correlated with their practice of medical information protection (r = 0.62, P < .001), and their ethical inclination toward idealism was correlated with perceived need to protect medical information (r = 0.18, P = .049). The perception of the need for medical information protection was a significant predictor of the practice of medical information protection (R2 = 0.39, P < .001). Findings suggested that nursing students' perception of medical information protection affected their practice of information protection. Therefore, measures to improve nursing students' perception of the importance of medical information protection might be useful to improve their practice of information protection in clinical settings. There is an urgent need to identify the barriers to the practice of medical information protection, and ongoing training on medical information protection should be included in nursing courses.

Some legal issues of medical privacy in psychiatric practice

The article discusses a number of issues associated with medical privacy in psychiatry, including forensic psychiatric evaluation. Current Law of the Russian Federation “On Psychiatric Care and Guarantees of Citizens’ Rights in Its Provision” requires taking into account the mental state of a person with a mental disorder when informing him about his mental health condition. However this rule misses new realities of digital health and is not included into the legislation on protection of citizens’ health. It is hardly possible to realize in practice and it needs an additional and established by law mechanism of access to medical records, considering specific properties of psychiatric patients. Problems also arise with a mentally disordered person&amp;apos;s access to his forensic psychiatric medical record. On the one hand, the report of forensic psychiatric evaluation is an evidence in the court case, and the procedure for its disclosure is regulated by procedural legislation and legislation on state forensic expert activities. On the other hand, the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation considers such a report as a medical document, for which the rules of legislation on protection of citizens’ health apply. In this paper the authors propose the solution to this dilemma that requires corrections in the position of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation. The authors analyze the history of legislation on medical privacy and draw attention to obvious long-term trend that shows in continuing expansion of the range of persons who have right to access such information without consent of the citizen concerned. The authors conclude that medical privacy is gradually losing the nature of the right guaranteed by federal law. Especially worrying are the attempts of a number of state bodies and officials to obtain information about mental health of unspecified groups of people. Too many third parties already have access to medical information for various reasons, and the number is growing with introduction of digital health information systems. The authors come to conclusion that such a development can lead to serious negative consequences for the legally guaranteed rights of citizens and stress the importance of special attention to protection of medical information, including measures against unlawful access and possible leaks.

The Effect of Dental Hygienist’s on the Medical Ethics Course in College on Medical Information Protection Agreement and Practice

Objectives: The objective of this study was to identify the effect of dental hygienist’s ethic course attendance on medical information protection agreement and practice and to analyze the relevant factors. Methods: The study population consisted of 125 active dental hygienists. Each medical information protection agreement measurement tool and medical information protection practice measurement tool consisted of 21 items for a total of 42 items. A multiple regression analysis was performed to determine the factors affecting the degree of medical information protection agreement and practice. Results: There was significant differences in the mean values of degree of dental hygienist’s medical information protection agreement and practice, showing the higher agreement score being correlated with higher practice score (p<0.05). Among dental hygienists who attended ethics courses, those with longer work experience tended to show higher degree of medical information protection agreement and practice (p<0.05). Conclusions: It is determined that in order to improve the degree of medical information protection agreement and practice among dental hygienists, dental hygiene curriculum should add additional instructional hours to the relevant courses to the curriculum, and at the same time, it is necessary to continue to train current active dental hygienists through continuing professional education and new dental hygienist education.