Improving the Information Security Management: An Industrial Study in the Privacy of Electronic Patient Records

Abstract

Adverse incidents in the privacy of patients' medical records can result in multiple negative impacts. Effective mechanisms are needed to communicate the lessons from the incidents into the Information Security Management Systems (ISMS) so as to prevent similar incidents. The Generic Security Template (G.S.T.) has been developed to enhance current mechanism and has demonstrated significant benefits in communicating the lessons compared to the more conventional use of text-based incident reports. This paper extends the work to evaluate the G.S.T. in healthcare. A case study with healthcare professionals working in a China healthcare organization shows that, the G.S.T. can enhance the current mechanism in communicating the lessons with the ISMS.