The security of technological data is vital in delivering health care to patients all over the globe. Security concerns affect how patient data is transferred, obtained, and recorded into health care systems, for instance, the EHRS, which stores comprehensive patient information and individual details, impacting people’s lives. Training about protective mechanisms or steps taken to avoid information breach, should be managed in accordance with HIPPA‘s higher security standards. Among the teaching techniques available to train the healthcare team on safeguarding patient data include instructor-led training, eLearning, self-guided learning, and just-in-time training. Security measures, administrative and staff problems, accessibility levels, managing and disposing of private data, and identifying phishing emails should be taught to healthcare workers through instructional practices. Healthcare workers can safeguard patient data as a multidisciplinary team by incorporating safe procedures and guidelines.
Educational Methods
Several education methods are available today that train while allowing people to look at options, making the learning process easier and better. Instructor-led training is one of the techniques. An instructor teaches this method to a population of learners in a classroom or is linked through AV technology (Hebda & Czar, 2013). ILTs are phenomenal since they allow students to connect and pose questions. As a result, this can be an effective tool for organizational change. The incorporation of activities into each training segment can enhance skill validation and learning retention. This lays a foundation for end-users to individually work through a scenario after accomplishing the guided fraction of the training and presenting particular concerns, needing the end-user to connect helpful resources and other tools necessary to handle the problems presented. However, Instructor-led training is an expensive but beneficial method of educating a large workforce because it is costly to acquire materials, machinery, technology, personnel replacements, and the trainers.
E-Learning
This is a training mechanism whereby training is delivered online through computers or portable gadgets. It may be used on its own or in combination with additional teaching techniques. The training that will be proffered involves dynamic activities and simulation procedures from EHRs, HIT among others. It facilitates asynchronous training, whereby the end-users access the relevant data in their free time but must do so within a timeline set by the institutions (Hebda, & Czar, 2013). It could be integrated for pre-learning or to justify what was learned during the sessions. This informative method utilizes PowerPoint slides, Adobe Captivate, Lector, or articulate learning systems (Online health, 2017). This technique is helpful for module modes in long-term treatment and skilled nursing facilities for in-services, ongoing training, and EHRs. However, the effective development of e-learning requires the use of a highly specialized educator. Instructors can team up with groups to build a curriculum while highlighting the key educational objectives and verifying methods and workflows.
Self-guided Learning
This method of learning makes use of text-based teaching resources given to the employee. Employees plan their time and read the resources, which could be stapled copies or digitized manuals. It is pertinent for limited alterations, or it could be used to refresh seldom utilized tasks in the HIT framework. This training mechanism is relevant for homecare or clinical organizations where a short timeframe is required to interpret data or appraisal the latest data to the available system. However, the technique also exhibits various shortcomings. The limitations of this technique include the complexity in tracking training conformance, the recycling of obsolete material that may provide obsolete or inaccurate information, and the lack of engagement among trainees, teachers, or heads of departments.
Just-in-Time Training
This technique is preferable by health providers who prefer to incorporate their learning into daily practice instead of e-learning or a training classroom. This learning method allows the practitioner to integrate the training program into their everyday patient-care activities, which they always feel confident doing on their own after a few iterations. This training method improves productivity and minimizes nonproductive time for busy professionals by eradicating the need to schedule tools or classroom settings. It encourages enhanced information technology adoption through training tailored to the user’s needs. This approach combines a superuser or instructor who is present physically with the trainees to instruct them through the process they presume they should comprehend by the period the process is performed. This method is beneficial for quick, independent learners or individuals who experience difficulties sitting in a training atmosphere or in front of a computer and take classes.
Patients’ Information Protection
Healthcare has become a more alluring target for cybercrime. Access to private health information (PHI) could be used for bad intent such as identity fraud. Technology has made gathering and storing information convenient than before, but hardware, software, and guidelines should be designed to safeguard information exchange, whether unintentionally or intentionally. An institution can protect patients’ data by incorporating different security protocols and safeguards for administration and personnel, levels of access, and the handling of classified material.
Security Mechanisms
The security of computer systems is of paramount importance. Automatic sign-off, whereby the employee is logged off after a period of inactivity, is a prevalent security measure required by health personnel. This inhibits passersby from reading information on a display after the staff has walked away. Physical security measures entail, for example, maintaining workstations or printers away from the public areas. As establishments are increasingly supposed to generate a Wi-Fi password for visitors to connect to the network, network security is essential. Healthcare organizations should use a secure network to avert unauthorized access to confidential data. All users should be familiar with authentication mechanisms. Staff members should input a login and password or use biometric data to access certain aspects or both. A database in a company must handle each network user’s access privileges. In addition to physical security, software security measures should be adopted. These include firewall installations, the protection of applications from unauthorized individuals, antivirus programs, and spyware. Methods for ensuring the protection of PHI must be used to maintain the integrity of data shared over a system, hold every user accountable for their network activities and facilitate the development of large systems by securely linking PHI networks.
Administrative and Personnel Issues
Administration and personnel are both responsible for information security. The administration should ensure that the outlined measures are in place and that each staff is accountable for the system. Sadly, while outside cybercrimes are highly prevalent, insider misconduct is a much more significant risk. So, while every employee is responsible, the organizational level bears the most accountability and responsibility. According to Hebda and Czar (2013), it is their responsibility to develop the strategies, policy proposals, and designated implementation frameworks and guarantee a sound financial plan. They should also ensure that information access is only granted on need-to-know grounds. All employees must have restricted rights. When authorization is role-based, it is a solid strategy. It is essential to determine roles in medical institutions and then allocate each individual the minimum level of access needed for the employee to perform their task.
Handling and Disposal of Confidential Information
While most people realize the importance of ensuring the confidentiality of electronic health records, minimal attention is given to protecting data extracted or printed from this documentation for reporting purposes. With this in mind, customer information must be treated with extreme nondisclosure and secured against unauthorized users, irrespective of the format or form. Computer systems and workspaces should all be protected against unauthorized accessibility. HIPAA compliance requires that any document, electronically or on paper, containing any patient identification be discarded in such a manner that the data cannot be seen again.
Education on Phishing and Spam Emails
Instructor-Led training aims at developing educational skills that will provide professionals with a level of knowledge to detect phishing and junk mails. This educational tool would be used by a person standing in a lecture hall giving educational training about damaging links swarming specific emails. These lessons showcase hacker techniques and efforts to interrupt business in the digital realm. The trainer would host informative in-service periods at regular intervals to reply to queries (Gupta Arachchilage,& Psannis, 2018). The class’s host will then focus on specialists comprehending sessions conducted. Finally, comments will be shown to assess the concepts taught and understood during the teaching sessions.
The E-learning mode of data delivery is acquired through the internet through video content comparable to a Channel on YouTube. This preparation framework utilizes an online webinar strategy to reach out to other trainees in a diverse array of timeframes. This training would include brief videos that evaluate phishing emails versus authentic emails; brief clips that can direct professionals on detecting faulty emails, hacker strategies, phishing outcomes, and methods to prevent these falsehoods. E-learning videos can be downloaded to a personal computer for future use or reference. To ascertain the understanding of the data obtained, assertions about the lesson learned should be made at the end of a session to progress onto the next lesson (Keengwe, 2017). To better evaluate specialists’ understanding, dummy internet falsities will be sent.
Self-directed learning facilitates the involvement of reading skills pertaining to phishing emails. Medical professionals will distribute study guides to gain the required knowledge about inappropriate email messages in their spare moments. Materials containing details about detrimental emails, their formation, purposes, and protections would be distributed. Logically, the data will also include predictors trying to point out potentially dangerous broadband networks and conventional phishing sites. Health practitioners should gather and analyze data from the learning material to formulate effective responses geared towards eradicating phishing. As is common practice, an overview of the medical expert’s understanding will be conducted to determine their degree of competence related to internet mishaps.
Just-in-time training is suitable for medical providers with hectic work timelines to identify possibly hazardous emails conveyed to their mailbox or spam for unprincipled motives. Businesses that use just-in-time coaching must have a solid educational foundation to direct health practitioners to identify potentially damaging emails. This training method would not provide comprehensive principles of detrimental email; instead, it offers training that acknowledges the identifying of tasteless emails. The assessment of this coaching model will challenge medical providers’ ignorance before and following the transmission of harmful emails.
Conclusion
All healthcare professionals and institutions must guarantee the protection and privacy of patient information and also the organization’s network system. To achieve their objectives, organizations should use diverse teaching systems at varying periods. Proactively engage so that they can get the most out of materials or relevant data they are provided. Both the employees and the institution should profit from the educational approach. Healthcare information security should be given preference in healthcare coordination to alleviate the significant risk of data breaching that could result in identity fraud and costly liabilities imposed by clients. Personal information management is meant to ensure that no classified data falls into the hands of the wrong people. Personnel and institutions must work collaboratively to eliminate phishing and spam emails, resulting in security breaches.
