Telemedicine Amid a Pandemic: Benefits and Privacy Challenges
With the rapid spread of the deadly Coronavirus—now affecting more than 876,500 persons and resulting in 43,531 fatalities—an increasing number of people are now shifting to telemedicine to avoid or minimize physical contact. Telemedicine makes use of various technologies to facilitate the exchange of information necessary for the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of diseases and injuries. It may also be used for research and evaluation, and the continuing education of health care providers. All in all, it results in an increased access to medical information for everyone.
Today, health care providers turn to telemedicine as an alternative to in-person visits. It offers remote chronic health management, home treatments, and emergency responses. It also enables faster issuance of electronic medical prescriptions and real-time distance management of patients. For patients, it is easy for them to connect with health care providers and get medical attention through video conferencing, consultations, or virtual communications.
Countries currently affected by the COVID-19 pandemic are making use of telemedicine to help flatten the virus curve. In mainland China, several telemedicine services such as Ali Health, JD Health, and WeDoctor offer online screening and video visit services for COVID-19 cases to triage and treat patients around the country. Following China’s lead, the US is now also utilizing the service. To prevent individuals from visiting hospitals or medical centers and increasing the risk of infections, the country has expanded the coverage of telemedicine services to its citizens, allowing them to receive a wide range of health services without having to leave their homes.
So far, telemedicine has proven to be very practical and convenient. With lockdowns in place in many parts of the world, a regular hospital visit can be difficult—impossible even, in some cases. Fortunately, with video conferencing and other features, telemedicine allows patients in remote locations or lockdown areas to still access medical expertise quickly and efficiently without having to travel. Health care workers are also able to make sure patients receive quality care even from afar. Meanwhile, workflow in health facilities are streamlined because the remote monitoring of patients’ conditions and the recovery of discharged patients is also made possible. Learning and professional development opportunities via remote data exchanges and consultations with experts are an added bonus.
Despite these benefits, the reliance of telemedicine on the continuous use and transmission of real-time data also poses a real threat to the concerned parties in that, like any other technology-based system, it may also give rise to security and privacy issues.
Among its more obvious problems are the lack of transparency between health care professionals and their patients, and the difficulty in verifying their respective identities . It’s hard to know if the health care professional on one end and/or the patient on the other are really who they say they are. To permit identity verification, one has to request for the other person’s data, like his or her identification card. Even then, there’s no complete assurance that his or her identity is fully authenticated. Worse, other parties can inject themselves into the transaction and illegally access and use the personal data being disclosed.
Telemedicine may also involve the transmission of personal data over unsecure connections. Because not everyone has access to a stable and secure internet access, patients (or even health care professionals) may have to go to public areas or establishments to go online. Thus, highly sensitive data may end up being inadvertently transmitted to unknown third parties, including cybercriminals. Connected devices may also be exposed to viruses and other malware.
Finally, there is the possibility that the huge amount of data that will be collected via telemedicine may be difficult to manage. As such, there is a higher likelihood that security and privacy standards will be violated. Take the case of health care professionals needing to request more information from patients in lieu of physically examination. A patient may need to send pictures of a rash or wound or use a wearable monitor to transmit pulse or blood pressure reading before he or she can be properly examined. All these data will form part of his or her medical records. When the records are shared with other health care professionals or organizations for referral or billing services, or is supplied to third-party service providers, the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the data may be compromised. If smartphone apps are involved, there is the additional risk of having sensitive data unlawfully shared with advertisers and other third parties in ways not anticipated by users. All of these things increase the likelihood of data breaches taking place.
Of course, this is not to say there has to be 100% assurance that no privacy or security issues will be encountered before telemedicine is utilized. It’s just that safeguards have to be in place. Telemedicine has to be incorporated in risk management plans and made subject to privacy and security processes and policies, just like any other data processing system. Health organizations must adhere to the best cybersecurity and privacy practices to safeguard patient data, whether at rest or in transit. They should also conduct trainings for their staff members, and make sure that all privacy protocols are being followed.
For patients, they must also learn to be vigilant and become responsible digital citizens. They should practice privacy check routines (e.g., research about a telemedicine company or mobile app provider before utilizing its services, read its privacy notice and terms of use, etc.) and make use only of trusted and secure networks. When necessary, they should not hesitate to exercise their rights as data subjects.
It is only when healthcare providers and patients fulfill their respective roles that a successful adoption and implementation of telemedicine is ensured; one that benefits everyone, especially during extraordinary times like this COVID-19 pandemic.
