(Fatima,2011)
Health
Information Management has seen exponential growth in recent years, but along
with that growth has come concerns of the legality and ethical use of much of
the data that is collected and stored.
To see the true potential of integrated electronic health records (EHR)
it is necessary that information is captured across large areas or even
countries. The main obstacle to a
national or regional EHR is the potential for unethical or illegal use of the
information. The health information management
industry is currently trying to come up with guidelines and standards that
would help realize the full potential of EHR systems.
Patient privacy is an
expectation that has been in the medical industry for decades. In times past it was much simpler to keep
records private because whoever had possession of the paper chart was the only
person that could view patient information directly. With the new age of technology physicians are
not inputting documentation and seeing results in an electronic format that
enables multiple users from anywhere with internet access to potentially access
patient information. Understandable this
has left the general public uneasy that their personal medical information
could be shared without their consent and used to the detriment of the patient
(Atherly, 2010).
With the concerns on privacy,
health information management vendors are scrambling to offer solutions to the problems. Nearly every major vendor in the industry now
requires access groups that can limit an end-user’s ability to access
information to only what they need to do their job. These systems also have audit logs that can
track and report what an end-user has done in the systems or who has “touched”
a patient record (Linda, 2011). These
stringent advancements in system security combined with innovations on the
hardware, wireless, and network technologies necessary to run a modern health
information system are combined to offer the most secure system available. The hope is that with proof that systems can
remain discrete combined with a lack of incidence of unethical use, will give
the general public the confidence to endorse use of national medical records.
References:
Atherley, G. (2010). EHRs
pose an ethical trap for physicians. Medical Post, 46(10), 11-12.
Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/865379642?accountid=32521
Fatima Group. (2011). Policy statement of ethics and business
practices. Retrieved from
http://www.fatima-group.com/fatimasugar/businessethics.php
Linda, M. J.,
Notman, M., Benedek, E., & Malmquist, C. (2011). A look at the ethical,
legal, and clinical issues associated with information technology.
Psychiatric Times, 28(6), 28-32. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/877016320?accountid=32521
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