Privacy and security issues for a patient-centric approach in public healthcare in a resource constrained setting

There is a paradigm shift from provider-centric to patient-centric approaches in the provision of healthcare services across the globe. Unlike provider-centric systems, a patient centric approach places more emphasis on the patient. A patient makes an informed decision about their own health because they are empowered with information. This turns healthcare into a more consumer-oriented market in which individual patient preferences are taken into account in preventing and treating sickness. To achieve this, health providers and health consumers need to share the electronic health records of the patient. However, the sharing of patient information raises privacy, confidentiality, integrity, availability and security issues. Unfortunately, there is little literature that discusses privacy and security concerns with respect to patient centricity in a resource constrained setting. Resource constrained environments such as developing countries face a number of challenges in mitigating privacy and security issues pertaining to health information. This paper therefore provides a comprehensive overview of the implications of privacy and security in a patient-centric health system in a resource constrained setting such as Malawi. It also endeavours to propose potential solutions to the challenges of privacy and security issues that are encountered in a patient-centric environment especially in a resource constrained setting.