Why do in-patients conceal hospitalization information?: an analysis based on association rule mining

As information technology rapidly advances, digitized personal information is becoming more accessible. However, the increasing likelihood of data breaches has negatively aroused privacy concerns that may even affect individuals’ health. This study aims to identify contributory factors to the overall divulgence of personal medical information within a majority of healthcare contexts. Study data collected between 2018 and 2019 is from 3,170 eligible in-patients at a medical center in southern Taiwan who requested concealment of their recorded hospitalization information. By utilizing association rule mining, this study uncovers those factors contributing to in-patients’ privacy concerns. Association rule mining yields six rules that are associated with in-patients’ requests to conceal personal information at the time of hospitalization. These rules include (1) female gender; (2) accompanied when at home; (3) undergoing procedures during hospitalization; (4) severe illness or injury; (5) admission to a general medicine ward; and (6) procedures applied during hospitalization and accompanied when at home. The findings of this study suggest that healthcare facilities should pay special attention to those factors that may raise patients’ privacy concerns and should plan effective corresponding privacy protection policies to meet those concerns. Healthcare facilities must convey these privacy protection policies to patients via a range of digital channels. In this way, healthcare facilities can implement practical measures relating to patient perceptions in order to improve quality healthcare provision.