EPSTII: Enhancing Privacy in Electronic Medical Records through Automated STI Information Safeguarding

Automated Safeguarding of Sexual Transmitted Infection Information in Electronic Medical Records

Abstract

In an effort to address the critical issue of privacy protection within electronic medical records, this study introduces EPSTII Electronic Medical Record Privacy Tool for STIs, a sophisticated tool designed specifically to secure patients' sexually transmitted infection information. By leveraging advancements in processing and expert knowledge refinement, EPSTII achieves unparalleled accuracy and recall rates when identifying relevant private data. This investigation serves as the pioneering large-scale examination of privacy breaches and sexually transmitted infections STI identification within Chinese electronic medical records, significantly contributing to the development of patient privacy protection legislation in China.

Introduction

With the increasing reliance on electronic health information systems, safeguarding sensitive personal data, including that related to sexually transmitted infections, becomes a paramount concern. This work ms at formulating an efficacious approach to ensure robust privacy protection mechanisms within Chinese electronic medical records through the development and application of EPSTII.

Methods

The study is based on patient electronic medical record text information from 19 participating hospitals in China, covering data from January 2010 to December 2023. An annotated dataset was created that identifies privacy-sensitive fields relevant to sexually transmitted infections. The core involves the use of a automated identification and redaction of sensitive information.

Results

EPSTII is designed with an initial keyword set tlored specifically for STI-related information extraction within medical records. Through iterative refinement, which integrates expert insights on terminology and context-specific keywords, the tool achieves perfect accuracy 100 in identifying privacy-sensitive fields associated with sexually transmitted infections. The integration of this expert knowledge significantly boosts the recall rate to 99.5, ensuring comprehensive protection of patient data.

EPSTII represents a feasible solution for protecting patient privacy while accessing medical records contning sexually transmitted infection information. This method paves the way for the development of more sophisticated tools and regulations med at safeguarding sensitive health information in Chinese electronic medical systems, ultimately enhancing public trust in digital healthcare infrastructures.

Competing Interests Statement

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest associated with this work.

Funding Statement

This research was financially supported by grants from the National Key Research and Development Program of China projects 2021YFC2500200 and 2023YFC27062305 and Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University. The authors confirm that no generativewas utilized in any part of the manuscript composition.

Acknowledgements

We ext our gratitude to the medical ethics committee at Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University approval number: NFEC-2019-213, for their consent and oversight throughout this study. This approval exempted the requirement for patient informed consent due to the retrospective nature of the research.

This revised version retns the core information from the original abstract while refining language, structure, and terminology for clarity and coherence in English-speaking academic contexts. It emphasizes the significance of privacy protection in electronic medical records and introduces EPSTII as a key tool facilitating this safeguarding process. The introduction section sets up the context by highlighting the growing importance of electronic health information systems and their implications for data security.
This article is reproduced from: https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.08.13.24311908v1

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