Privacy, Security, and Usability Tradeoffs of Telehealth from Practitioners’ Perspectives

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly transformed the healthcare sector, with telehealth services being among the most prominent changes. The adoption of telehealth services, however, has raised new challenges, particularly in the areas of security and privacy. To better comprehend the telehealth needs and concerns of medical professionals, particularly those in private practice, we conducted a study comprised of 20 semi-structured interviews with telehealth practitioners in audiology and speech therapy. Our findings indicate that private telehealth practitioners encounter difficult choices when it comes to balancing security, privacy, usability, and accessibility, particularly while caring for vulnerable populations. Additionally, the study revealed that practitioners face challenges in ensuring HIPAA compliance due to inadequate resources and a lack of technological comprehension. Policymakers and healthcare providers should take proactive measures to address these challenges, including offering resources and training to ensure HIPAA compliance and enhancing technology infrastructure to support secure and accessible telehealth.