JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

The Health Information System (HIS) functions are getting wider with more diverse users. Information security in the health industry is crucial because it involves comprehensive and strategic information that might harm human life. Human factor is one of the biggest security threats to HIS.

Objective:

This study attempts to investigate information security behavior of HIS users using a comprehensive assessment scale suited to the information security concerns in healthcare. Patients are increasingly being asked to submit their own data into HIS systems. As a result, this study examines the security behavior of health workers and patients, as well as their demographic variables.

Methods:

We used a quantitative approach using survey to health workers and patients. We created a research instrument from four existing measurement scales to measure pro-security and anti-security behavior. We performed statistical differences analysis to test the hypotheses, and descriptive analysis was utilized to determine whether the group exhibited exemplary behavior when processing the survey results.

Results:

We analyzed 421 responses from the survey. According to demographic factors, the hypotheses testing for full and partial security behavior reveal substantial differences. Education levels is the most significantly affect security behavior differences, followed by user type, gender and age. All demographic characteristics, particularly concerning user type, show discrepancies that are caused mainly by anti-security behavior rather than pro-security behavior.

Conclusions:

Since patients engage in anti-security behavior more frequently than health workers and may pose security risks, healthcare facilities should start to consider information security education for patients. More comprehensive research on information security behavior in health care facilities is required to better understand the patient's perspective, which is currently understudied.