Secondary use of health data increases security risks

NATIONAL REPORTS-Patient privacy remains a key issue for health plans, according to a new survey conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Moreover, the survey indicates that the issues currently facing health plans are just the beginning of data privacy and security challenges.

The survey of more than 600 provider, health insurer, and pharmaceutical/life sciences professionals, as well as 25 senior executives involved in privacy and information security, indicates that electronic health record (EHR) access, vendor security and compliance, and secondary use of patient data are the three major concerns when it comes to data privacy.

For health plans in particular, they identified their top security concerns: