Toward Privacy-Preserving Data Sharing—An Australian Healthcare Perspective

Abstract

The rise of big data has brought increased urgency to the importance of privacy-preserving data sharing in healthcare. In Australia, health records exist in various databases; however data sharing is limited. While many consumers and healthcare professionals recognise the advantages of sharing data for research and health care services, misgivings about privacy and security persist. This study examined current perspectives on data sharing, investigating the trust level in privacy preserving data sharing tools and techniques among healthcare professionals and organisations, and their openness to adopting technology for secure data sharing. We incorporated participants from various healthcare professions across Australia. We aimed to uncover prevalent attitudes toward data sharing in the healthcare sector by employing a mix of descriptive statistics and knowledge discovery methods. Findings revealed that despite significant concerns regarding data breaches and sharing, Australian healthcare professionals have a notable willingness to embrace technological solutions for safer data sharing. Interestingly, healthcare professionals' motivations for data sharing differed from those observed in consumer-focused studies, with a stronger emphasis on enhancing patient outcomes rather than solely supporting research. This study offers valuable insights into formulating effective policies and strategies to foster privacy-preserving data sharing within the Australian healthcare system. We surveyed 82 healthcare professionals, including both clinical and non-clinical staff from the Australian Healthcare sector. The dataset containing the survey results discussed in this paper is available for download here: https://doi.org/10.26189/2be780bd-c782-460e-8fd2-1b29efc3f51a.