Time-out settings

Time-out settings (sometimes written as "timeout settings") have an important security role in clinical informatics applications to minimize the potential for unauthorized accessing of clinical information.

According to the Oxford University Press Dictionary of Computing, a time-out is "a condition that occurs when a process which is waiting for either an external event or the expiry of a preset time interval reaches the end of the time interval before the external event is detected."

With clinical software applications, the application closes after a designated time-out period. To resume use of the application, the user must log back in to the application.

In clinical informatics applications, the determination of an appropriate time-out interval can be difficult. If a time-out setting is too long, security can be compromised. If a time-out setting is too short, users can become frustrated by the need to repeatedly log-in after relatively brief periods without computer activity.

The frequent interruptions that characterize clinical workflow can lead to an excessive number of timeouts when the user is at the computer but attending to another task. However, such interruptions can also lead users to physically leave the computer terminal, providing a potential for compromise of secure data.

References

A Dictionary of Computing. Oxford University Press, 2004. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. Accessed 9 April 2006

--Lfochtmann 17:00, 9 April 2006 (CDT)