Managing privacy, confidentiality and security of health information Ensuring that quality information through its life cycle is efficiently and effectively managed between its various forms – paper and electronic

BACKGROUND RESEARCH IN HEALTH INFORMATION GOVERNANCE
August 25, 2019 Off All,

Background Research in Health Information Governance

Introduction: A 2014 benchmarking white paper produced by Cohasset associates on behalf of AHIMA called for the adoption of information governance practices in healthcare. The paper delivered authoritative and current benchmarks on information life cycle practices in healthcare, noting specifically the need for: “(A)ctions to respond to today’s information governance challenges” A number of these challenges have revolved around managing and protecting enterprise information in healthcare environments. Protecting enterprise information has recently taken on a more strategic approach to its management, given that a good number of organizations now use cloud data storage. The need to meet data protection and privacy legislation further elevates pressure to meet compliance requirements by these firms. Healthcare organizations are no exception to these realities. Managing the challenges presented by enterprise information is a constant battle. Some of the obvious challenges include: Managing privacy, confidentiality and security of health information Ensuring that quality information through its life cycle is efficiently and effectively managed between its various forms – paper and electronic Managing the design and capture of information Information design and capture requires appropriate information infrastructure and technology acquisition in standardized environments Ensuring that decisions are based on quality information Ensuring that trained personnel are available to help capture, store, analyze, pull and present information and deliver to the right people, at the right time and in the right formats Besides challenges with enterprise information management, information governance is also sometimes flawed due to: The lack of policies and procedures to effect the much needed change for governance practices. The lack of strategy to institute governance practices, as well as maintain and sustain such efforts. Having in place the right personnel to keep information governance practices going is also a battle.