A Computer Virus in Hospital Settings

Technology has made hospital care faster and more efficient. For example, patient intakes are much faster with electronic data entry and it is possible to check old records quickly. Medication errors are controlled more efficiently through a computerized system or a so-called ‘e-health’ network.

However, when a computer virus is able to penetrate the computer system, a major disruption occurs:

“Three London hospitals have been forced to shut down their entire computer systems for at least 24 hours after being hit by a virus.”

link: Computer virus affects hospitals

This security breach illustrates the importance of a health network of preventing malware from penetrating the system. It possibly could have deadly consequences. As more and more medical records go online within a hospital and between medical care providers, security will be crucial to national security.

Catherine Forsythe