Exploring information assurance to support electronic health record systems

Electronic Health Records (EHRs) provide continuity of care as all the patient health information is stored in one place. Patients and health care staff have privacy concerns regarding EHRs as they are not informed how the information in the system is protected. Information assurance is a holistic approach to the protection of data in a EHR. This paper makes use of a literature review to discuss both information security risks and information assurance as it applies to EHRs. The significance of information assurance to protect patient information in an EHR is also investigated. The Maconachy cube is used to discuss the various information assurance dimensions as they relate to the EHRs. These include the information states, critical information characteristics, security measures and time dimensions. The paper provides and overview of information assurance as it relates to electronic health records and can be used in future research to improve the protection of information in EHRs.