An Electronic Medical Records System, Research Paper Example

An Electronic Medical Records technological System is tasked with the responsible of record keeping of data in computer storage devices and aid in information search and data mining of multiple data arrays and formats. Just like any other technological platform system, there is always the issue regarding security of data and information, since information are usually affiliate to human beings and the privacy and confidentiality of one’s data is vital in maintaining trust for use in any technological based system.

The internal threats linked Electronic Medical Records technological System include medical theft identity, for instance stealing and using patient information to initiate false or exaggerated action claims, procuring medicine, or attain free health treatment(Carter, J. H., & American College of Physicians-American Society of Internal Medicine, 2001). Instantaneously, a front desk administrator at a Florida health clinic copied info on more than 1,100 Medicare patients and provided it to a colleague who concluded 2.8 million dollars in dishonest Medicare assertions.

Another internal threat includes VIP record snooping for example revealing a celebrity’s health records, and one prominent case intricate a UCLA Health Center operative leaking Farah Fawcett’s cancer treatment archives to the public tabloids(Anderson & Goodman, 2002). Also, a coworker, family member and/or neighbor might pry or reveal a patient’s health records to an unsanctioned individual. In a contemporary investigative report CNN journalist, Elizabeth Cohen was able to retrieve eighteen months’ worth of health records for a coworker Gary Tuchman and his whole family in a short while, on live television, by only using his social security number andtime of birth.

Instances of external or outside threats are financial identity theft which involves the theft patient information for fiscal gain(Rodrigues, 2010). An admittances worker at the Baptist Health Medical Center in Little Rock, AR was recently alleged of using stolen patient info to buy Wal-Mart gift cards. Nearly 1,800 patient archives wereuncovered. One other security threat that is generally concerning is the service provision of the system is guaranteed to be available round the clock, day in day out. The servers might fail where in this case scenario the operation of the technological system is usually stalled or slowed down significantly to the extent the organizations execution of daily goals is halted.

The malicious attacks usually intended for systems include the viruses, Trojan horses, worms etc. These attacks are usually aimed at the various vital issues stated above which include external identity theft and eavesdropping by intruding on firewalls and routers by spoofing IP addresses and network ports.(Rodrigues, 2010)

Policies set in place in the organization aimed at maintaining a proper code of conduct and ethical or moral attitude at the work place are numerous. Data sharing is kept to a straight and open to allowed departments only in the institution(Rodrigues, 2010). The privacy impact and assessment of the system is to be maintained where data shared should be encrypted at all times during transportation and communication. This aid in maintaining data integrity of the records kept and backed up in the system.

The potential threat on this policy is that data might be intercepted by insider malicious hacking or one just gets the data entry information which can be manipulated by anyone who has access code with administrative privileges.

Data regulations and requirements for the patient consent and right to access their health and medical information to only their personal data is advisable to ensure trust between patients and the doctors(Anderson & Goodman, 2002). The privacy audits for the whole system databases are essential in ensuring that the system is kept compact and that there is usually no violation of system requirement or unauthorized use of user roles and responsibilities set in the system.

The solution that preferable and positively achieve a goal to promote the system security is trust and clear set policies that if violated, one is faced by the consequences of the long arms of the law. To solve the problem of unauthorized access there is the ability to recommend that the physicians have an ethical and legal duty to keep all patient info private.

Strong safety features and strategies must be applied to safeguard info upheld in an EMR/EHR and be only available within the circle of care to offer satisfactory patient care, or for other resolutions approved by law or with prompt patient accord. (Anderson & Goodman, 2002)

In the case of information sharing it is highly recommended that general practitioners deliberate applying encryption security on all PC systems (comprising laptops and desktops) holding individual health info. Affiliates who store patient info on portable data storing devices such as USB flash drives, personal digital assistants (PDAs), portable hard drives, etc. ought to also contemplate installing encryption programs or software on these respective devices.

When using a wireless network to access and send patient information contained in the EMR/EHR, members will want to consider steps to ensure that the network used is secure. Digital records should be kept in read-only format so they cannot be altered or manipulated after conversion

An EMR ought to have an audit track describing user access and modifications to the record on the system (Carter, J. H., & American College of Physicians-American Society of Internal Medicine, 2001). An audit trail helps in indicating the info delimited in the EMR is accurate and consistent. It correspondingly supports with continuousness of patient care, particularly where numerous health care sources have access to the system database record.

For example the audit trail system structure should permit the doctor to recognize what, if any, adjustments or variations have been made to the database stored records or even conclude who completed a specific change, and when it was made in addition to also being able to validate that the chain of custody of the data records or entry is comprehensive.

Conclusively, IS institute an important part of the world since it aids in making work easy and implementable in various platform for aiding fast execution of data and instructions to enable the achievement of n organizations goals.

References

Anderson, J. G., & Goodman, K. W. (2002). Ethics and information technology: A case-based approach to a health care system in transition. New York: Springer.

Carter, J. H., & American College of Physicians-American Society of Internal Medicine. (2001). Electronic medical records: A guide for clinicians and administrators. Philadelphia: American College of Physicians-American Society of Internal Medicine.

Rodrigues, J. (2010). Health information systems: Concepts, methodologies, tools and applications. Hershey PA: Medical Information Science Reference.