Patient Data Protection in Healthcare: Assessing Compliance and Practices Among Healthcare Workers as Basis for a Training Enhancement Program
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21280320Keywords:
patient data privacy, healthcare workers, compliance, technical practices, legal compliance, training enhancement programAbstract
This study determined the compliance and practices regarding patient data privacy among healthcare workers in selected private hospitals in Dasmariñas, Cavite as basis for developing a training enhancement program. It employed a quantitative descriptive-correlational research design involving 300 healthcare workers from two private hospitals, selected through stratified and simple random sampling. Data were gathered using a validated researcher-made five-point Likert questionnaire and analyzed using frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, and Pearson r. Findings showed that most respondents were young to middle-aged adults, predominantly female, largely nurses, mostly bachelor’s degree holders, and generally had one to five years of healthcare experience and one to two trainings related to data privacy. Healthcare workers demonstrated high levels of administrative practices (M = 3.74, SD = 1.13) and technical practices (M = 3.73, SD = 1.12). They also showed high levels of legal compliance (M = 3.78, SD = 1.13) and institutional compliance (M = 3.76, SD = 1.11). However, the relationship between overall practices and overall compliance was very weak, positive, and not statistically significant (r = 0.071, p = 0.217). The study concludes that good privacy practices do not automatically translate into stronger compliance, suggesting the influence of organizational systems, enforcement, training, and institutional support. The proposed enhancement program focuses on legal compliance, secure data handling, cybersecurity, incident reporting, and a stronger privacy culture in hospitals.
Downloads
References
Abuhammad, S. (2025). Strengthening ethical practices of patient data confidentiality and sharing among nurses in the artificial intelligence-driven healthcare era. SAGE Open Nursing, 11, 23779608251398113. https://doi.org/10.1177/23779608251398113
Afzal, S., & Arshad, A. (2021). Ethical issues among healthcare workers using electronic medical records: A systematic review. Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine Update, 1, 100030. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmpbup.2021.100030
Agup, R. (2024). Data Privacy Act: Awareness, compliance, and challenges of nurses of government hospitals in Northern Philippines. SEEJPH. Source details require verification.
Ahmad, S., Wasim, S., Irfan, S., Gogoi, S., Srivastava, A., & Farheen, Z. (2019). Qualitative v/s. quantitative research: A summarized review. Journal of Evidence Based Medicine and Healthcare, 6(43), 2828–2832. https://doi.org/10.18410/jebmh/2019/587
Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50(2), 179–211. https://doi.org/10.1016/0749-5978(91)90020-t
Albabtain, M. A., AlOtaibi, D., AlMazial, N., Aloudah, N., Alghosoon, H. M., & Arafat, A. A. (2024). Healthcare professional’s knowledge, awareness, and attitude toward patients’ data privacy and security in clinical research. Saudi Journal of Health Systems Research, 4(2), 92–102. https://doi.org/10.1159/000538617
Alhassani, N. D., Windle, R., & Konstantinidis, S. T. (2024). A scoping review of the drivers and barriers influencing healthcare professionals’ behavioral intentions to comply with electronic health record data privacy policy. Health Informatics Journal, 30(4), 14604582241296398. https://doi.org/10.1177/14604582241296398
Conduah, A. K., Ofoe, S., & Siaw-Marfo, D. (2025). Data privacy in healthcare: Global challenges and solutions. Digital Health, 11, 20552076251343959. https://doi.org/10.1177/20552076251343959
D’Ordine, K. (2023). HIPAA vs. medical research: Improving patient care through integration of data privacy and data access (Senior Honors Project, Bryant University). Bryant Digital Repository. https://digitalcommons.bryant.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1008&context=honors_data_science
Gibbs, J. P. (1975). Crime, punishment, and deterrence. Elsevier.
Hamza, A., Adamu, A., & Sauwa, S. H. (2025). Assessment of confidentiality of patients’ health records among health information professionals at Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17626794
Hanggara, I. B. U., Kuswardhani, T., & Hartawan, G. A. G. U. (2024). Roles of law on medical records for data and information security: A systematic literature review. Journal of Law Politic and Humanities, 5(2). https://doi.org/10.38035/jlph.v5i2
Ibrahim, A. M., Abdel-Aziz, H. R., Mohamed, H. A. H., Zaghamir, D. E. F., Wahba, N. M. I., Hassan, G. A., Shaban, M., El-Nablaway, M., Aldughmi, O. N., & Aboelola, T. H. (2024). Balancing confidentiality and care coordination: Challenges in patient privacy. BMC Nursing, 23(1), 564. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-024-02231-1
Idoko, N. B., Alakwe, N. J. A., Ugwu, N. O. J., Idoko, N. J. E., Idoko, N. F. O., Ayoola, N. V. B., Ejembi, N. E. V., & Adeyinka, N. T. (2024). Enhancing healthcare data privacy and security: A comparative study of regulations and best practices in the US and Nigeria. Magna Scientia Advanced Research and Reviews, 11(2), 151–167. https://doi.org/10.30574/msarr.2024.11.2.0110
İyi̇Gün, U., & Ergene, D. (2025). Legal and ethical breaches in personal health data handling among cardiologists: A multicenter survey on compliance gaps and forensic risk. Forensic Science International Reports, 13, 100444. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fsir.2025.100444
Karacic-Zanetti, J. (2025). Challenges and solutions for patient data protection in large healthcare databases. Preprints.org. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202504.1650.v1
Lakoro, D. D. K., Jumrati, & Jamaludin, A. (2025). Legal responsibility of health professionals in protecting patient data. Research Horizon, 5(3), 869–878. https://doi.org/10.54518/rh.5.3.2025.657
Mensah, N. K., Adzakpah, G., Kissi, J., Taylor-Abdulai, H., Johnson, S. B., Agbeshie, P. A., Opoku, C., Abakah, J., Osei, E., Agyekum, A. Y., & Boadu, R. O. (2024). Health professionals’ ethical, security, and patient safety concerns using digital health technologies: A mixed-method research study. Health Services Insights, 17, 11786329241303379. https://doi.org/10.1177/11786329241303379
Mikuletič, S., Vrhovec, S., Skela-Savič, B., & Žvanut, B. (2023). Security and privacy oriented information security culture (ISC): Explaining unauthorized access to healthcare data by nursing employees. Computers & Security, 136, 103489. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cose.2023.103489
Msumi, M. M. (2024). Protection of personal data in e-health: A comparative perspective between Tanzania and Germany (Doctoral dissertation, The Open University of Tanzania). The Open University of Tanzania Institutional Repository. https://repository.out.ac.tz/4718/1/MBIKI%20MKUDE%20MSUMI-PhD%20Thesis-01-11-2024.pdf
Oktaviana, S. O., Handayani, P. W., Hidayanto, A. N., & Siswanto, B. B. (2025). Healthcare data governance assessment based on hospital management perspectives. International Journal of Information Management Data Insights, 5(1), 100342. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jjimei.2025.100342
Pratiwi, A. B., Padmawati, R. S., & Willems, D. L. (2022). Behind open doors: Patient privacy and the impact of design in primary health care, a qualitative study in Indonesia. Frontiers in Medicine, 9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2022.915237
Rogers, R. W. (1975). A protection motivation theory of fear appeals and attitude change. The Journal of Psychology, 91(1), 93–114. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223980.1975.9915803
Semyonov-Tal, K. (2024). Keeping medical information safe and confidential: A qualitative study on perceptions of Israeli physicians. Israel Journal of Health Policy Research, 13(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13584-024-00641-9
Shojaei, P., Vlahu-Gjorgievska, E., & Chow, Y. (2024). Security and privacy of technologies in health information systems: A systematic literature review. Computers, 13(2), 41. https://doi.org/10.3390/computers13020041
Siedlecki, S. L. (2020). Understanding descriptive research designs and methods. Clinical Nurse Specialist, 34(1), 8–12. https://doi.org/10.1097/nur.0000000000000493
Siregar, R. A., & Astuti, N. K. (2025). Assessing legal and institutional readiness for patient data protection in the age of big health data: An empirical study of health facilities in Indonesia. International Journal of Law, Policy and Social Review, 7(3), 15–21. https://www.lawjournals.net/assets/archives/2025/vol7issue3/7062.pdf
Tegegne, M. D., Melaku, M. S., Shimie, A. W., Hunegnaw, D. D., Legese, M. G., Ejigu, T. A., Mengestie, N. D., Zemene, W., Zeleke, T., & Chanie, A. F. (2022). Health professionals’ knowledge and attitude towards patient confidentiality and associated factors in a resource-limited setting: A cross-sectional study. BMC Medical Ethics, 23(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12910-022-00765-0
Turkstani, H. A., Almutawah, F. N., AlZamel, N. A., Alshammari, M. Z., Alhamadi, A. A., Algharbi, M. T., Alsuayri, A. M., Gong, M. B., Alqahtani, J. S., Alnemer, A. F., & Aljuwayed, N. H. (2025). Privacy and confidentiality in healthcare: Best practices for protecting patient information. Journal of Healthcare Sciences, 5(1), 49–54. https://doi.org/10.52533/johs.2025.50106
Williamson, S. M., & Prybutok, V. (2024). Balancing privacy and progress: A review of privacy challenges, systemic oversight, and patient perceptions in AI-driven healthcare. Applied Sciences, 14(2), 675. https://doi.org/10.3390/app14020675
Xu, J., Lu, L., Xing, K., Shi, H., Chen, R., Yao, Y., Liu, S., Xiao, Z., Peng, X., Luo, S., & Zhong, Y. (2022). Theoretical approach and scale construction of patient privacy protection behavior of doctors in public medical institutions in China: Pilot development study. JMIR Formative Research, 6(12), e39947. https://doi.org/10.2196/39947
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
How to Cite
