From a wired to a wireless secure EPR: can we re-use existing security solutions?

The use of electronic information systems within the healthcare environment has become essential in order to enable the sharing of patient data. Several constraints during the development of IT solutions often imply that security is an afterthought. The use of wireless technology has been adopted in some healthcare organizations where, the access to patient´s information and clinical activities becomes ubiquitous and closer to the point of decision. There are, however, specific security problems inherent to wireless technology. The main objective of this study is to design a secure wireless solution from a wired system already in use. This paper shows that it is possible to use the security solutions developed for a wired system as a platform to implement a secure wireless version. This can save time and resources whilst minimizing most security risks inherent to wireless technologies.