Scientific Journal No 33

Edition: 2014

Articles count: 6

The widespread computerization of health service is becoming a fact. The process means for many people a mere transfer of data from paper documents to digital medical records of patients. However, the whole process is much more complex. The digitization of data and information offers new opportunities of storing, transferring, sharing and filing, It is natural that medical service institutions ask external units offering all kinds of IT services for the assistance in processing a substantial amount of information on health, for adequate software as well as for storing the data and protecting it in compliance with current standards. In the nearest future, computer systems and the dedicated applications used by health care institutions will have to cover such functions as health data storage and identification and certification of documents , which necessitates the use of the electronic health insurance card and medical specialist card. With the application of such instruments, an adequate system will make it possible to affix electronic signature on medical files by service providers on the one hand, and – on the other – to send by the service providers and pharmacists an adequate message to the Medical Information System which is one of the modules of the health care system being currently implemented. Moreover, a process of dynamic technological changes can be witnessed that may either facilitate or enable the targeted solutions. The authors have in mind the model of the so called computational cloud as the area where health data can be processed. Unfortunately, legal solutions do not follow the technological developments and most health care institutions face the problem whether they can entrust their data to external units that offer both “virtual space” and readymade health data processing software without legal consequences. What is more, there are still no regulations as regards the services conducted by teleconsultations. The current issue of Zeszyty Naukowe includes texts that discuss the most basic issues concerning the services offered by computational clouds and deal in more detail with the potential opportunities of using them in the health care information system. The unique character of medical data, the necessity of legal protection, as well as organizational and legal requirements concerning IT systems in health care generate numerous problems and doubts as regards the application of computational clouds as a potential solution to be implemented in the health care information system. The lack of legal regulations regarding the application of computational clouds in health care, both on the national and EU levels, results in the delay of the implementation of such solutions. On the other hand, when analyzing the assumptions of the integrated healthcare information system, as proposed in the act on information system in healthcare of 2011 and the suggested amendments in 2014, it seems that cloud computing can become a realistic technological solution for such a system. The debate on those issues and the determination of potential solutions and necessary legal regulations constitute an indispensible step in the commencement of the application of cloud computing in the Polish healthcare information system. Chapter 1 presents the most important features of data processing in cloud computing with regard to its potential application in data processing in the healthcare system. The prospects of implementing a computational cloud model in the Polish healthcare system are discussed in the next chapter. The following three chapters deal with the most significant legal problems regarding medical data processing in computational clouds and their unique character. The issue is concluded by the presentation of potential applications of computational clouds in telemedicine in general. A significant number of issues are not discussed here as the authors do not see the reason for that. It is pointless to take into consideration the aspects of contracts with the suppliers of cloud computing when the legislator has not determined the acceptability of personal data processing in computational clouds that are under control of external units or defined the administrator of personal data that are processed in the clouds. One has to wait for suitable provisions in that respect. Moreover, a widespread use of smartphones and computational clouds is the fact that must be taken into consideration by legal regulations regarding personal data security .

Articles

• A. IMPLEMENTATION OF CLOUD COMPUTATING IN HEALTHCARE SECTOR
  mgr Ewa Reczek
• B. INTRODUCTION OF CLOUD COMPUTING IN THE LIGHT OF CURRENT LEGAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL SOLUTIONS
  Mariusz Kielar, Artur Romaszewski, dr hab. med. Wojciech Trąbka
• C. LEGAL ISSUES OF MEDICAL DATA PROCESSING BY CLOUD COMPUTING
  Artur Romaszewski, dr hab. med. Wojciech Trąbka
• D. PROCEDURES OF MEDICAL DATA PROCESSING IN CLOUD COMPUTING
  Artur Romaszewski, dr hab. med. Wojciech Trąbka
• E. REQUIREMENTS AND STANDARDS IN MEDICAL DATA PROCESSING
  Artur Romaszewski, dr hab. med. Wojciech Trąbka
• F. CROSS-BORDER MEDICINCE CONSULTATIONS ON CLOUD COMPUTING
  Mariusz Kielar, Artur Romaszewski, dr hab. med. Wojciech Trąbka