Electronic Privacy: Patient Concerns

This study postulates issues related to electronic privacy and addresses the factors that directly effect personal electronic information. There is no positivist study done to measure patient privacy concerns using Smith et a l(1996) privacy model and the effect of previous experience and media on these concerns. This study measures the four dimensions of patient concerns against the electronic privacy, defines as the automation of patient records, meaning that computerized patient records will be signed, modified, authenticated, stored, and retrieved via computer. The defined model uses multiple constructs with multiple indicators and thus, Partial Least Square (PLS) is applied to study the relationships between the model variables. The electronic privacy resides inside the databases is secured by using various electronic security systems that are implemented and maintained by the organizations. The merging, acquisitions and strategic alliances to gain a competitive edge in the market raise a fear of data ownership and its distribution for unauthorized purposes. If not properly defined to the organizations, the electronic privacy can not be protected even in the presence of highly sophisticated hardware and software technologies