| dc.description.abstract | This study aims to gain an understanding of how much the Norwegian public trust the security and handling of their medical data by general practitioners (GP) and medical practitioners at hospitals. The research question we investigated was “How much does the Norwegian public trust in the handling and security of their medical data?”. It provides a new look on the topic in a Norwegian context while providing new insight, findings, and interpretations which can be used to determine what kind of improvements both general practitioners and hospitals should focus on in the future.
The research conducted to answer this question was a quantitative research approach. We found that the Norwegian public have a fair amount of trust in their GP, while there are exceptions, such as their knowledge regarding data security. They neither trust nor distrust their hospitals in general, although trust in restricted access to related staff regarding their medical data is noticeably low. We interpret that the high levels of trust in GPs stems from the personal relationship they have with their patients, contributing to a trusting relationship. Media coverage of issues at hospitals could be the main contributor to lower trust in hospitals compared to GPs. Hospitals should make it clear that medical data can't be viewed by unrelated staff to their patients. GPs should receive more frequent cybersecurity training and cybersecurity guideline reminders. | |
