Smith, Dinev & Xu (2011) assert that information security and privacy are significant issues in healthcare. Patients prefer that their medical information or record be kept safe and secure. Medical information if not well secured may reach the wrong people who in turn misuse the info thus causing the patient mental torture. Internet, social media and information technology have both negative and positive impacts on information security and privacy in healthcare. If appropriately used technological advancement can assist in keeping patients records safe but at the same time information may be hacked and spread through social media thus compromising information security and privacy in healthcare. The underlying governing principle for effective healthcare delivery of patient-physician relationship is privacy.
Physicians require information about the patients to facilitate disease diagnosis and treatment. Wager, Lee & Glaser (2017) note that telemonitoring systems, email, smartphones, telemedicine and webcam have been used in sharing information between patients and physicians to offer diagnosis, counseling and diseases management. Besides, cloud computing has made data storage and access more efficient and reduce costs or wastages involved while using papers. Research shows that use of electronic data in place of paper records has led to ease of workflow, improved public health and lower healthcare costs.
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According to Wager, Lee & Glaser (2017) , there are also organizational and operational problems that administrators encounter due to use internet and information technology in healthcare. Disclosing psychiatric issues, HIV status and other health conditions of a patient cause social stigma. Smith, Dinev & Xu (2011) highlight that threats to patient information security and privacy can be organizational; due to inappropriate data access by internal agents or systemic; arising from the exploitation of disclosed data beyond its intended use just within the information flow chain. External hackers or employees may infiltrate the information system without a legitimate need to still data or make the information infrastructure inoperable. Spouses, insurers, employers and journalists may use technological advancement to steal digitized patient records for economic or other personal reasons that the patient would not approve. Employees may also accidentally transmit patient files to the wrong email. Besides, insiders who have data access may out of curiosity look for information about fellow employees or a celebrity or other patient and transmit it through the social media for revenge or profit. Data breach by leaders, followers, patients and outsiders offer significant threat to privacy and information security.
Reddick (2012) point out that implementation of enterprise architecture framework has five stages of maturity and each has core elements. The first stage involves creating awareness on the enterprise architecture in the organization. Before implementation, the employees and employers in the employees need to discuss the goals of using information technology and patient information security. In the second stage, the management should build a foundation of the architecture as plans and responsibilities of each employee is developed. The third stage then develops the products according to the selected EAF. Required software, relevant, communication, data collection and data analysis instruments are designed. This stage defines technology, performance, data and service application and tracks the progress made against the plans laid earlier (Reddick, 2012). At stage four, approval of products or efficiency of information technology is done then the enterprise architecture is completed. Finally, in stage five of EAF maturity identification of ongoing IT investment proposals are done while also tracking the benefits of the enterprise architecture.
Nygård & Olsen (2016) observe that ineffective communication, unclear enterprise architecture roles and lack of commitment impede enterprise architecture. Difficulties in communication between the top management and other parts are perceived to be the primary challenge. Concepts on enterprise architecture are also not known to most of the staff thus making communication more difficult between the Information and Communication Technology personnel and other staff (Nygård & Olsen, 2016) . Lack of role clarity, knowledge and commitment are also major challenges. To overcome the challenges, employees should be well trained and made conversant with concepts used, clarification of roles and responsibilities of the management and other staff will also make implementation of enterprise architecture framework successful.
References
Nygård, M., & Olsen, D. H. (2016). Enterprise architecture implementation challenges: an exploratory study of the Norwegian health sector.
Reddick, C. G. (2012). Public administration and information technology . Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Smith, H. J., Dinev, T., & Xu, H. (2011). Information privacy research: an interdisciplinary review. MIS Quarterly , 35 (4), 989-1016.
Wager, K. A., Lee, F. W., & Glaser, J. P. (2017). Healthcare information systems: a Pract1ical approach for healthcare management . John Wiley & Sons.
