Introduction 1 - Executive Summary 2 - Methodology 3 - Profile of Survey Respondents 4 - IT Priorities 5 - IT Barriers 6 - IT Applications 7 - IT Security 8 - Technology Adoption 9 - Web Site/Intranet Use 10 - IT Outsourcing/Satisfaction w/ Vendor Performance 11 - IT Budget and Staff 12 - Survey Sponsors 13 - How to Cite This Study 14 - For More Information

IT Security

Healthcare IT executives continue to identify internal breaches of security as their primary concern regarding data security. The majority of healthcare organizations continue to secure data with multiple technologies.

Survey respondents continue to express concern that internal breaches may compromise the security of electronic medical information. This was identified as a top concern by 56 percent of respondents, representing a decrease from the 65 percent of respondents who identified this as a concern in 2004. Compliance with HIPAA’s security regulations (35 percent) and limitations of existing technology (31 percent) round out the top three for the third consecutive year.

Healthcare organizations continue to place an emphasis on data security. All healthcare organizations represented in this survey use at least one security application, and 99 percent use more than one application. In fact, 75 percent use at least six of the security tools identified in the survey; last year approximately 70 percent reported using six or more technologies.

Firewalls (99 percent), user access controls (80 percent), off-site storage (79 percent) and multi-level passcodes (79 percent) are the top security tools in place at this time. These were also among the top four in both the 2004 and 2003 surveys.

Survey respondents were most likely to identify single-sign on as the security tool they would use at their organization in the next two years. This was identified by 70 percent of respondents. Presently, this technology is used by 21 percent of respondents. Fifty-eight percent of survey respondents report that their organization will use biometric technologies for data security in two years; present use is 14 percent. Electronic signature rounds out the top three, identified by 57 percent of respondents.

Growth in use of public key infrastructure technology, which is presently used by 25 percent of respondents, is not projected to be strong. Only 32 percent of respondents indicate that they plan to use this technology in their organization in the next two years; this was the security tool that was least frequently selected for future use.

Figure 14. Top Concerns—Security of Computerized Medical Information

Figure 15. Security Tools