Healthcare Data Security and Cloud Computing

Chapter 1: Introduction
In this era of globalization, healthcare service is spreading its reach to every end of the
society, integrating almost all of the population in the healthcare system (Abouelmehdi, Beni-
Hssane, Khaloufi & Saadi, 2017). As a result, the needs of using information technology of
software are significant so that all the healthcare-related data and information, medication
information, personal data and insurance-related data could be saved using digital network-based
virtual data storage system and then could be protected from mishap or theft and the efficiency
and efficiency of the healthcare data could be protected from hacking and other aspects (Liu et
al., 2013). In this era of digitalization, storing the healthcare data over the cloud which increases
the ability to electronically store and transfer the health information to improve the quality of
health so that service provided to the healthcare system could be protected (Yuvaraj, 2015).
Despite the ability of the healthcare information system in maintaining and protecting the data of
patients for the benefit of patients and healthcare facility, there are instances in which the data of
the healthcare facilities are compromised. This compromised data is a significant challenge for
the healthcare facility as well as the healthcare service provider as it can affect their health and
can degrade the quality of healthcare provided in the healthcare facility (Aiswarya, Divya,
Sangeeth & Vaidehi, 2013).
In this section, discussion about the healthcare data security and several aspects of this
cloud computing is changing the paradigm shift for the infrastructure and the system software
will be discussed with the help of hypothesis and multiple research questions. Further, the
requirement of cloud computing in determining the data security its effectiveness and prospects
will also be discussed in this research article.

Background of the Problem
Healthcare data must be handled with the utmost of care as it involves personal
information of people. Almost all healthcare transactions are converted to online transactions, as
x-rays, MRI images, patient lab reports, digital images, and video files are saved in patients'
records. Online records are safe, encrypted, and transmitted without any delay, compared to
mailing and faxing the healthcare documents (Yuvaraj, 2015). Every day millions of online
record transactions take place between healthcare providers, hospitals, and medical groups.
Online data is fast, accurate, cost-efficient, and easy to integrate the use for analysis and research
purposes. With online data advantages, there are also some risks. In terms of risks associated
with online medical records, any theft of data could mean a few thousand to millions of accounts
are compromised. This data is used in the black market for personal identification or duplicate
identity. Some hackers are sponsored by the government or private parties to steal information
available online. With the advancement in technology, many companies need to move to the
cloud for security, expansion, faster processing, and reduced cost. The applications in-house may
cause risk of data security, and there is a need to add protection individually rather than to work
as a group in the cloud so that any safe can be applied to all forms at once (Mohd & Khanum,
2018). Cloud computing is a service model delivering on-demand computing resources over the
Internet (Yuvaraj, 2015).
Problem Statement
Healthcare data comprises of sensitive Information of patient like protected health data,
stored data like medical and payment records. The electronic health record requires protection to
maintain confidentiality and privacy of patient hence they are secured in vast data stores secured

by mean of use of end to end encryption, ditch open inbound port and token-based access control
(Yuvaraj, 2015). According to Wang, Kung and Byrd (2018) approximately three out of ten
healthcare organizations are still facing some implementation-related dilemma in terms of
workforce resistance against this change and management conflict, when they are trying to
incorporate virtual private cloud (VPC) for their database related operation and Electronic
Healthcare Recording system (Yuvaraj, 2015). The problem is that database management teams
of the healthcare organization are still unsure about the potential safety measures they could get
from a cloud based database management system. According to the Google virtual private cloud
offering in 2015 had around seven hundred security engineers working on data security and
monitoring any suspicious activity (Fiorito & Edens, 2016). Data security in healthcare data is
challenging to maintain for one organization. The collective contribution of related trusted
companies is easy to handle security in the right way and right format. In Anthem, a data breach
occurred on their database and could have avoided if data has been maintained in the cloud
(Fiorito & Edens, 2016). The data breach is an issue to millions of customers in the healthcare
industry as this data leaks the privacy of the citizens. Healthcare data is challenging to maintain
and to provide the right data to the right individual. Hence the practical safety and security issues
in cloud based healthcare record keeping system should be examined to ensure the reliability of
the cloud computing and Virtual Private Cloud system in EHR and other advance healthcare
digital Database Management System (DBMS).
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this research is to measure, explore and examine the current healthcare
security issues in the healthcare services in order to conclude the effectiveness the cloud based
health record or other optional technologies for maintaining the security and privacy issues