Pervasive health care applications face tough security challenges

The explosive growth of pervasive computing in medicine has begun to produce many useful applications, systems, and tools. The legal environment in which these tools must operate is rapidly evolving, so procedures must be developed to effectively comply with the law and regulations now in preparation. As in the PC's early days, many isolated tools are emerging that have great potential. But these need additional integration, security, and standards work, especially to protect confidential medical records data, to realize their full potential while protecting the organizations and end users that employ them.