e-Health: An introduction to the challenges of privacy and security

eHealth, in particular the use of EHR (Electronic Health Records) brings with it a huge amount of benefits for the care and treatment of patients in different health institutions. However, it also presents a number of challenges that must be considered to be fully exploited. In this paper, the main challenges of its implementation in Latin America are presented, primarily considering the aspects of privacy and security of patient data. First, the key concepts and the importance of considering these factors in any implementation will be introduced. Second, the concept of EHR will be introduced. The current state of eHealth in Latin America is then analyzed, with a review of the most important legislation in this area. Third, the challenges identified product of the analysis, will be described and finally the conclusions are presented.