Secure medical databases: design and operation.

Medical database security plays an important role in the overall security of medical information systems. The development of appropriate secure database design and operation methodologies is an important problem in the area and a necessary prerequisite for the successful development of such systems. The general framework for medical database security and a number of parameters of the secure medical database design and operation problem are presented and discussed. A secure medical database development methodology is also presented which could help overcome some of the problems currently encountered.

Design and implementation of secure medical database systems.

Medical database security plays an important role in the overall security of medical information systems and networks. This is both because of the nature of this technology and its widespread use today. Database security not only involves fundamental ethical principles, but also essential prerequisites for effective medical care. The development of appropriate secure medical database design and implementation methodologies is an important research problem in the area and a necessary prerequisite for the successful development of such systems. The general framework and requirements for medical database security are given and a number of parameters of the secure medical database design and implementation problem are presented and discussed in this paper. A secure medical database development methodology is also presented which could help overcome some of the problems currently encountered.

Medical database security policies.

Database security plays an important role in the overall security of medical information systems. Security does not only involve fundamental ethical principles such as privacy and confidentiality, but is also an essential prerequisite for effective medical care. The general framework and the requirements for medical database security are presented. The three prominent proposals for medical database security are discussed in some detail, together with specific proposals for medical database security. A number of parameters for a secure medical database development are presented and discussed, and guidelines are given for the development of secure medical database systems.

Medical database security evaluation.

Users of medical information systems need confidence in the security of the system they are using. They also need a method to evaluate and compare its security capabilities. Every system has its own requirements for maintaining confidentiality, integrity and availability. In order to meet these requirements a number of security functions must be specified covering areas such as access control, auditing, error recovery, etc. Appropriate confidence in these functions is also required. The 'trust' in trusted computer systems rests on their ability to prove that their secure mechanisms work as advertised and cannot be disabled or diverted. The general framework and requirements for medical database security and a number of parameters of the evaluation problem are presented and discussed. The problem of database security evaluation is then discussed, and a number of specific proposals are presented, based on a number of existing medical database security systems.

Performance evaluation of hospital relational database systems.

Performance is one of the principal concerns when considering the utility of database systems in a hospital environment. An evaluation of the performance characteristics of the new user-friendly type of 'relational' hospital database systems and a comparison with a number of possible alternatives is attempted in this article. The overall objective is to test whether such systems are operationally viable in a real-life hospital environment, study the price paid for the convenience offered to the users, and test whether these systems could become acceptable as the basis for the implementation of integrated hospital information systems. The study provides some experimental evidence on the computer resources required and the relationship between the complexity of a query and the times and resources required to process it. Based on the results obtained, a conclusion is finally drawn on the acceptability of the performance characteristics of such systems and the needs for further improvement.

Design and implementation of an integrated hospital database.

The need for the development of a modern hospital database which will support an integrated hospital information system has been recognized for several years. The exercise, however, has nearly always been more difficult than anticipated, and only a limited number of the relevant projects have been successful. A major common problem in most of the above efforts has been the lack of an appropriate hospital database design methodology: a subject on which the advice provided by the literature is limited. A database design methodology is proposed which should help overcome some of the difficulties and meet the database design requirements of a hospital in an optimal way.