First Advisor

Burns, Niall

College

College for Professional Studies

Degree Name

MS Computer and Information Technology

School

School of Computer & Information Science

Document Type

Thesis - Open Access

Number of Pages

108 pages

Abstract

The Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and The SarbanesOxley (SOX) regulations greatly influenced the health care industry regarding the means of securing financial and private data within information and technology. With the introduction of thinclient technologies into medical information systems (IS), data security and regulation compliancy becomes more problematic due to the exposure to the World Wide Web (WWW) and malicious activity. This author explores the best practices of the medical industry and information technology industry for securing electronic data within the thinclient environment at the three levels of architecture: the SQL database, its middleware application, and Web interface. Designing security within the SQL database is not good enough as breaches can occur through unintended consequences during data access within the middleware application design and data exchange design over computer networks. For example, a "hospital's medical records, which are routinely exchanged over computer networks, are subject to the audit control an encryption requirements mandated for data security." (Department of, 2008). While there is an overlapping of security techniques within each of the three layers of architectural security design, the use of 18 methodologies greatly enhances the ability to protect electronic information. Due to the variety of IS used within a medical facility, security conscientiousness, consistency of security design, excellent communication between designers, developers and system engineers, and the use of standardized security techniques within each of the three layers of architecture are required.

Date of Award

Fall 2008

Location (Creation)

Colorado (state); Denver (county); Denver (inhabited place)

Rights Statement

All content in this Collection is owned by and subject to the exclusive control of Regis University and the authors of the materials. It is available only for research purposes and may not be used in violation of copyright laws or for unlawful purposes. The materials may not be downloaded in whole or in part without permission of the copyright holder or as otherwise authorized in the “fair use” standards of the U.S. copyright laws and regulations.

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