Privacy and Security Community of Practice article I Cassandra Jordan
A Community of Practice (COP) was convened on Friday 30 June 2023.
The topic of “Artificial Intelligence” was raised, and a robust discussion followed on areas such as ChatGPT and Chatbot. A member from Tasmania, involved in preparing a talk on AI/Generative Chat for their Digital Dilemma CoP, shared an original poem written by ChatGPT (see below). The discussion centred around the ability to be able to identify and verify that the information provided was accurate. Further to this the concern of breaches of privacy arose in relation to the potential for Clinicians to use open-source software to share patient information.
Chat GPT Poem
In Tasmania’s land of beauty and grace,
Health information management takes its place.
A vital role in the healthcare scene,
Ensuring patient records are kept clean.
From hospitals to clinics, and everywhere in between,
HIM professionals work to keep things serene.
They manage data with precision and care,
Ensuring that patient information is always there.
With technology at their fingertips,
They keep records safe from prying tips.
From electronic health records to coding schemes,
They ensure that patient data is always a dream.
Their work is crucial to the healthcare team,
Ensuring that patient care is always supreme.
With HIM in Tasmania, we can rest assured,
That our health information is always secured.
So let us give thanks to these professionals so bright,
For keeping our health information in sight.
In Tasmania’s land of beauty and grace,
HIM professionals hold a special place.
What is ChatGPT?
ChatGPT is an acronym for Chat Generative Pre-Trained Transformer. It was launched by an artificial intelligence research and deployment company in November 2022 called OpenAI. ChatGPT can generate human-like text that to the reader can appear realistic. It is a language model. Participants spoke to examples of documents that had been viewed in real situations, and were considered to be not drafted by humans. This included job applications.
What is Chatbot?
Chatbot is software that simulates human like conversations with users via chat. This is something that is commencing use across many industries including health.
The area of AI and Chatbot is an ongoing concern that will continue to be monitored by this group, especially the impact on privacy. It was identified that legislation is struggling to keep up with these rapid changes also.
Privacy and Confidentiality of Patient Information
A further case was raised in relation to patient information being requested at the front desk or over the phone by people not able to be verified easily by staff. This led to a discussion on how this could be prevented or mitigated, and reduce the potential for privacy breaches.
The issue of privacy and confidentiality of patient information at health entity Front Offices, and the significance of continually reviewing processes, both for reception staff and computerised enquiry systems, was agreed.
Sharon will convene a meeting in the near future and new members welcome. Contact: Sharon Campbell: Sharon.Campbell02@outlook.com
Cassandra Jordan
Honorary Career Officer, NSW
Acknowledgement to Kirstie Mountain (Tas)