Prior to the Information Age, medical records were all stored in folders in secure filing cabinets at doctor’s offices, hospitals, or health departments. The information within the folders was confidential, and shared solely amongst the patient and physician. Today these files are fragmented across multiple treatment sites due to the branching out of specialty centers such as urgent care centers, magnetic resonance imaging, outpatient surgical centers, and other diagnostic centers. Today’s ability to store medical records electronically has made it possible to easily send these files from one location to another. However, the same technology which can unify the fragmented pieces of a patient’s medical record has the ability to also create …show more content…
Although there is a significant difference between an EMR and EHR, both are subject to the same type of security breach, and therefore for clarification purposes are both refereed to as EMRs in the context of this paper. Security breaches of EMRs vary from someone without consent viewing the patient’s information, to a hacker using the information to steal one’s identity. According to Privacy Rights Clearing House, more than 260 million data breaches have occurred in the United States, including those of health related records. Approximately 12 percent of data breaches involve medical organizations (Gellman, 2012). According to Redspin, a provider of Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act risk analysis and IT security assessment services, more than 6 million individual’s health records were compromised during a period from August 2009 and December 2010 (Author Unknown, 2010). A provision of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act requires all breaches affecting 500 or more people to be reported to the Department of Health and Human Services. This reporting is to be accomplished within 60 days of discovery. The Redspin report covering the period above involved 225 breaches of protected health information. The amount of people with access to an individual’s health record creates concern with confidentiality. According to the Los Angeles
The internal force in this case can include Marissa’s job requirement which dictate her to be on call 24-hour for troubleshooting the EHR system, the inadequate procedure for remote access control and screen logoff time, the recent change in the health condition of Marissa’s Mother that require her to move in with Marissa, the breach of pastor’s health information and the issue of employee access of Protected Health
contained in the EHR Has valuable information , even as an employee at a health care
Electronic health records were a technological advancement in the healthcare industry in which paper patient record’s became digital. The transition from paper to digital charting allowed easier, quicker access to patient information for those who were authorized to do so. EHRs are secure and protected with username and password access only. It contains information such as patient medical history, procedures, diagnoses, medications, labs, tests, and treatments. Healthcare professionals and organizations who are authorized to access a patient’s electronic health record can do so at ease via a secure network or online database (HealthIT, 2013).
Use of an EHR presents major opportunities for the compromise of patient’s personal health information (PHI). The facility must ensure proper safe guards are implemented and functioning properly at all times. Employees need to be educated on the safety measures to prevent breach of patient confidential health records. Privacy breaches can result from misuse or improper storage of PHI by the healthcare professional, by third party payers, or by lack of proper encryption in the EHR system itself (Burkhardt & Nathaniel, 2014). The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is a law that holds healthcare facilities and professionals accountable for keeping PHI confidential, patients to control
According to studies carried out in several countries, many concerns regarding data security and privacy arose. A study conducted in United States stated that approximately 25 million compelled authorizations occur every year for the disclosure of health information. It has become a concern about the accessibility of EHRs to unauthorized persons. There can be some technical security errors in the system which may disclose information to unauthorized persons or companies, therefore protection is required against the manipulation or unauthorized abuses. EHRs also have difficulties in maintaining data privacy as administrative staff can have access to information without the patient’s explicit consent. (Fernandez - Aleman,
In most cases privacy and security risks apply to both paper and electronic records. With the growing demand for the electronic health record (EHR) system, the transfer from paper to electronic can be risky. For this project we were asked to compare and contrast the security issues between maintenance of paper medical records and the EHR system, also we were asked to discuss what requirements and issues need to be considered when doing a conversion to an EHR.
Identity theft can occur when unauthorized people gain access to confidential and sensitive records. An unscrupulous person could access patient data and use it to commit fraud. However, EHR software alone is not to blame for such an unpleasant scenario. After all, it’s possible to commit identity theft simply by accessing paper records of patients. .(The pros and cons of EMR, 2015).
It is hard to take a snapshot of the current technology used in healthcare as tomorrow a new innovative idea is right around the corner. A major change that has occurred over time comes from the use of electronic health records (EHR). Electronic health records usage has been on the rise for several years. It has been used by physicians, ambulatory staff, and HMOs. Since data can be easily altered the copies that must be certified for any medical provider to reference. There is a criterion for the composition of this data due to the exchanging of patient information within an interoperable medical
One of the biggest issue with EHR is that patient data can be accessed by unauthorized users. If that information fell in the wrong hands, a patient can become a victim of identity theft. To resolve the issue, healthcare organizations should first train their employees on HIPAA and the consequences for not following it. Then, they should give a different password to each authorized user to known who access the patient’s file. Finally, they should make sure their computer has a security system to detect and stop a
Computers and cell phones are examples of the technology that have become part of our everyday life. The technology that we use is constantly changing. Same is true in the healthcare industry, technology is being used for most things you do in health care. Goodbye paper, hello electronics.
After decades of paper based medical records, a new type of record keeping has surfaced - the Electronic Health Record (EHR). EHR is an electronic or digital format concept of an individual’s past and present medical history. It is the principle storage place for data and information about the health care services provided to an individual patient. It is maintained by a provider over time and capable of being shared across different healthcare settings by network-connected information systems. Such records may include key administrative and clinical data relevant to that persons care under a particular provider. Examples of such records may include: demographics, physician notes, problems or injuries, medications and allergies, vital
In 1973, with the beginning of the computer age, the government adopted fundamental principle of information protection (Gelman R., 2008). In 1996, the federal government created the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) to protect medical health information instates and across state lines. The law aims to assure that only authorized individuals can access stored data; that they can only access it when they need to use it for an authorized purpose; and that what they see is accurate. Also, Under the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules employers are accountable for the employee breach of confidentiality, and we all heard of instances when employee’s action lead to considerable fines to the employer. Additionally to HIPPA, the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act mandates securing patient medical records information internally and
In today’s health care industry providing quality patient care and avoiding harm are the foundations of ethical practices. However, many health care professionals are not meeting the guidelines or expectations of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) or obeying the organizations code of ethics policies, especially with the use of electronic medical records (EMR). Many patients fear that their personal health information (PHI) will be disclosed by hackers or unauthorized users. According to Carel (2010) “ethical concerns shroud the
Electronic Medical Records or Computerized Medical Record System what is it and what are the advantages along with the disadvantages of using this system? That is what we will discuss in this paper.
The medical record is a private document that are formatting from certain elements, it tells a story of sickness, structures, thereby explains, and the treatment plane. It illustrates the medical map that any health practitioners can pursuit. So, medical record is not only a reflection of practice and thought, but also it figure s of what the kind of health care is received. With the rabid growth of modern technology and increase the number of patients and diseases. There is a demand to replace the traditional medical record by the electronic medical records. However, the electronic medical records could raise some ethical issues.