Masking (Electronic Health Record)

In Electronic Health Records (EHR’s) data masking, or controlled access, is the process of concealing patient health data from certain healthcare providers. Patients have the right to request the masking of their personal information, making it inaccessible to any physician, or a particular physician, unless a specific reason is provided. Data masking is also performed by healthcare agencies to restrict the amount of information that can be accessed by external bodies such as researchers, health insurance agencies and unauthorised individuals. It is a method used to protect patients’ sensitive information so that privacy and confidentiality are less of a concern. Techniques used to alter information within a patient’s EHR include data encryption, obfuscation, hashing, exclusion and perturbation.
Confidentiality
The increased access that transpires from introducing EHR's is seen as a large concern to some patients. Masking information is a technique that...