Cloud Computing in Healthcare

Cloud computing in healthcare industry has turned out to be an extremely advantageous technology. However, it needs to be considered that this particular technology has both its pros and cons. As far as the issues are concerned, there are numerous security and privacy challenges associated with healthcare cloud computing. In fact, there may be private, personal, or Data maintained in a cloud may contain personal, private or classified data in a cloud that could be misused or disclosed without improper safety measures (Koontz, 2013). For the same reason, healthcare organizations throughout the globe are hesitant to adopt cloud due to the many concerns associated to data privacy, compliance, and jurisdiction.

Challenges of Cloud Computing

One of the major challenges related to cloud computing is data privacy. For each entity, the patient data is confidential. The protection of individual information is not just a technical challenge; it is also a great moral and legal concern. Whereas privacy protection in all computing systems is technically complex, it is more complicated in a cloud setting due to “the distributed nature of clouds and the possible lack of awareness on the part of the potential cloud service customers regarding where data is stored and who has or can have access” (Koontz, 2013). Thus, cloud  is one of those progressed technologies that demonstrate vulnerability towards cyber gaps. As a consequence, the electronic health records of patients can be easily accessed through breaches and hacking methods.

It is, therefore, extremely significant to identify, understand, and address the privacy challenges related to cloud computing in the healthcare organizations. Sensitive data has been reported to be breached by the hackers in several incidences resulting in tremendous repercussions for the technologically-victimized individual. Thus, an excessively premium and effective security measure is essential for preventing the probabilities of data loss (Zeadally & Badra, 2015).

References

Koontz, L. D. (2013). Information privacy in the evolving healthcare environment. Chicago: HIMSS.

Zeadally, S., & Badra, M. (2015). Privacy in a digital, networked world: Technologies, implications and solutions. Switzerland: Springer.