Coles-Kemp, Lizzie

Williams, Patricia

English

Research Online @ ECU

Edith Cowan University Research Online ECU Publications Post 2013 2014 Editorial - The changing face of ehealth security Patricia Williams Edith Cowan University, trish.williams@ecu.edu.au Lizzie Coles-Kemp Edith Cowan University Follow this and additional works at: https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ecuworkspost2013  Part of the Information Security Commons Williams, P. A., & Coles-Kemp, L. (2014). Editorial–The changing face of ehealth security. electronic Journal of Health Informatics, 8(2), 10. Available here This Editorial is posted at Research Online. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ecuworkspost2013/2599 electronic Journal of Health Informaticswww.eJHI.net2014; Vol 8(2):e10Editorial – The changing face of ehealthsecurityPatricia A H Williams1 and Lizzie Coles-Kemp21eHealth Research Group, School of Computer and Security Science, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup,WA, Australia2Information Security Group, Royal Holloway University of London, UK School of Computer and SecurityScience, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, WA, AustraliaWe are grateful to the Electronic Journal of Health In-formatics (eJHI) for the opportunity to present this spe-cial issue on information security and electronic health-care systems. Electronic health record (EHR) systemsare notoriously difficult to design, and designing secureEHR systems is an even harder task. Part of the dif-ficulty lies in the fact that the actual electronic healthrecord is not simply the conversion of paper recordsinto a digitised form. The EHR is often a re-engineeringof healthcare services as the design takes advantage ofthe ability to “push the boundaries" of healthcare [1]and to transform the approach to the cycle of patientcare. The healthcare professions have a long history ofprioritizing the confidentiality of patient data. Theseprofessions also have long understood the relationshipbetween maintaining patient privacy and maintainingpatient trust. The provision of healthcare takes place influid, complex environments where the ability to deliverpatient care is dependent on the quality and availabil-ity of patient data as well as on the facilities and skillsof the healthcare provider. For these reasons, informa-tion security and the delivery of healthcare is intimatelylinked and has proven to be a fascinating challengewhen designing electronic healthcare systems.This special issue characterizes some of the contem-porary challenges facing electronic healthcare systemdesign. The topics presented in this special issue includethe system design process, the governance framework,the access control model and the challenges relatedto the provision of cloud-based EHR services. Thisbreadth reflects how information security affects all as-pects of EHR design and deployment.Williams and Coles-Kemp call for user-centered par-ticipatory design processes that help to bridge someof the design-reality gaps described by Richard Heeksand analyzable through Heeks’ ITPOSMO framework.The paper provides an example a communities of prac-tice approach-based to identify and implement infor-mation security requirements as part of EHR systems.This example illustrates the positive results of using aculturally-sympathetic rather than a technology-focuseddesign approach in EHR design.Johnstone illustrates that whilst there are benefits tocloud-based service provision in the healthcare environ-ment, there are also security issues that require attention.The paper provides an analysis of security issues in aparticular case study, illustrating how information secu-rity is highly situated and methods are needed to under-stand security in context when new technical paradigmsare put forward. Johnstone’s analysis demonstrates theneed for specific cloud-service provision research inhealthcare.Williams and Mahncke present research that exploresgovernance framework design and considers the implica-tions of resourcing and security knowledge constraintson the design and provision of information securitygovernance frameworks. The results of this researchdemonstrate the importance of language and simplicityof process for the success information security gover-nance.Gajanayake, Lane, Iannella and Sahama focus on thetopic of access control: a subject that sits at the heartof all EHR systems. They propose a model that empha-sises after the fact evidence and the important role thatmonitoring plays. The authors argue that this featureis necessary in order to encourage the development ofappropriate ethics of use in EHRs.This special edition of the eJHI provides an impor-tant contribution to the discussion on security in ehealth.The papers draw together important aspects of securitythat need to be embedded into EHR systems and theprocesses of governance that surround these. It is in-The electronic Journal of Health Informatics (ISSN:1446-4381) is dedicated to the advancement of Health Informatics and information technology in healthcare. eJHI is an international Open Access journal committed to scholarly excellence and has a global readership in all health professions and at all levels.Âl’ Copyright of articles originally published in www.eJHI.net under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License is retained by the authors.Williams & Coles-Kemp | electronic Journal of Health Informatics 2014; Vol 8(2):e10creasingly important to being these issues to the foreand promote debate on the multi-facetted and complexarea that is ehealth security.References1. Rigby M, Budgen D, Turner M, Kotsiopoulos I, Br-ereton P, Keane J, Bennett K, Russell M, LayzellP, Zhu F. A data-gathering broker as a future-orientated approach to supporting epr users. In-ternational Journal of Medical Informatics. 2007;76(2): 137-44.CorrespondenceAssociate Professor Trish Williamstrish.williams@ecu.edu.auDr. Lizzie Coles-KempLizzie.Coles-Kemp@rhul.ac.uk2

Editorial - The changing face of ehealth security

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Editorial - The changing face of ehealth security

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