Pediatric Informatics: Computer Applications in Child Health (Health ...

Chapter 22
Privacy Issues
David M.N. Paperny
Objectives
To outline the nature of privacy requirements for pediatric health information
systems
To define Protected Health Information (PHI), its inappropriate access and
release
To describe information assurance (IA), workflows, and systems that are able to
distinguish IA requirements for different pediatric diagnoses and populations
22.1 Introduction
Pediatric privacy issues are distinct from those of adult patients because the details
of confidentiality and access to child health information vary across social and
legal situations and across the age ranges from infancy to young adulthood. Health
information technology tools must be able to adapt to those needs and to allow
easy access to the personal health information of children in medical care while
protecting their rights and privacy.
22.2 Basics
22.2.1 Information Assurance
Information assurance (IA) is the management of data-related risks. The processing
and communication of data creates three categories: data at rest (stored), data in
C.U. Lehmann et al. (eds.), Pediatric Informatics: Computer Applications 303
in Child Health, Health Informatics,
© Springer Science + Business Media, LLC 2009