Tuesday, January 31, 2012

PHR: Personal health data better protected by ISO standard


From The Finnancial Channel:

ISO has published a new technical specification which will increase protection of personal health information processed, stored and transferred by computer systems for subsequent use by clinicians and others in healthcare organizations, according to ISO.

ISO/TS 14265:2011, Health informatics – Classification of purposes for processing personal health information, defines a set of high-level categories of purposes for which such personal health information can be processed .

Electronic health records are used more and more. They involve the systematic electronic collection of health information about individual patients or populations, such as information about the physical or and mental health of an individual or provision of health services.

Health information is usually documented by healthcare professionals as part of the process of delivering care, and subsequently used to support the continuing care of each patient. However, PHR information might also be needed and used to enable the healthcare organization to manage its services better and more safely, and for a wider range of purposes such as public health, education and research.

Information may at times need to be shared with other organizations. For ethical and legal reasons, health information technology should only be used for the purposes for which it was collected or created. Up to now there has been no standard listing of the possible kinds of purpose of use of personal health information.

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