Ethical/Legal Risks, Article Example

Introduction

The development of a successful approach to minimizing legal and ethical risks in healthcare requires a comprehensive review of current practice methods and strategies for improvement. For example, the confidentiality of patient information is of critical importance and requires a system that supports the protection of personal and clinical information as best as possible. The use of electronic health records is essential in promoting efficiency throughout healthcare practice; however, this method is not without its risks and the potential to compromise information in different ways. Common problems include 1) the failure of an enterprise-wide system to provide comprehensive privacy protections and 2) lack of controlled access to these systems (Benaloh et.al, 2009). Therefore, it is important to develop an effective understanding of these limitations and how they contribute to negative outcomes in using these systems. In the case management environment, the protection and privacy of electronic medical records is particularly challenging and requires an assessment of current practice methods in order to identify weaknesses and improve privacy and security strategies.

Enterprise-wide electronic health records systems attempt to provide easy access to medical records without difficulty. However, there are a number of important ethical and legal considerations that must be evaluated to determine where there are barriers or gaps in privacy protection might exist (Cushman et.al, 2010). This is important because if the system has gaps that could compromise patient information, the integrity of the system is poor and is ethically compromised (Cushman et.al, 2010). One area is filtering information, which is required to ensure that some of the key data elements are not captured during transmission to unauthorized users (Cushman et.al, 2010). This is an important requirement that if not fulfilled may compromise the integrity of the data in different ways (Cushman et.al, 2010). In evaluating this practice, it is important to recognize the legal requirements that facilitate data protection and privacy. Therefore, it is important to utilize encryption as a likely benefit in capturing the necessary data but to also provide the optimal level of protection that is required to enable data to be shared and transmitted safely without being compromised by any outside sources or unauthorized persons in the process (Benaloh et.al, 2009). Therefore, encryption will provide an additional level of protection to ensure that data is captured and transmitted properly without allowing those without access to review this information in any way (Benaloh et.al, 2009).

Another important problem to consider with electronic medical records is privacy and permissions for those persons who will review the information contained in these records. Patient information should only be accessed and reviewed by those persons who have been authorized to review this data; therefore, it is important to recognize whether or not certain third parties should be provided with access to this data for their own purposes (Haas et.al, 2011). In some instances, patients who have access to their own electronic health records also have the capacity to update these records in different ways; however, privacy protections may be compromised in the process or when third parties are involved in obtaining and/or editing information within the health record in a private setting (Haas et.al, 2011). As a result, it is necessary to develop a strategy that supports the integration of privacy-based settings so that there are sufficient protections in place, while also refraining from allowing all users the same access to this data, including editing privileges (Haas et.al, 2011). In these instances, it is necessary to evaluate exactly who has access to specific data, the level of permissions of those individuals, and whether or not they have the capability to edit this data accordingly and without prior approval (Haas et.al, 2011).

Conclusion

The development of a successful electronic health records system requires the creation of different elements that will ensure privacy and protection of this information at all times. This includes the development of an environment that supports the provisions of privacy that are required to support these systems. Two of the key problems that commonly occur, including in case management organizations, are the development of encryption techniques that will be effective in protecting personal and clinical information in these settings. This also enables data to be transmitted in the proper manner so that it will not be compromised and changed in any way during the transmission process.

It is also important to develop a strategy that encompasses the protection of information by disabling unauthorized users to obtain access to electronic medical records for different reasons. These efforts will also enable patients to access their information but in a manner that does not allow third party access during transmission. Therefore, the encryption and other techniques are essential in promoting the sharing of patient data and information with the appropriate parties in a safe and private manner. Case managers rely on access to specific data and information; therefore, it must be accurate so that the appropriate decisions are made regarding specific cases.

Finally, it is important for case managers to obtain successful access to electronic patient records and to also edit the data as needed, but at the same time, perform these objectives safely and in a private and encrypted environment that does not allow unauthorized users or third parties to obtain access without permission. This will protect data integrity and allow proper decision-making regarding these cases as best as possible.

References

Benaloh, J., Chase, M., Horvitz, E., and Lauter, K. (2009). Patient controlled encryption: ensuring privacy of electronic medical records. CCSW, Retrieved from http://131.107.65.14/en-us/um/People/horvitz/ccsw_2009_benaloh_chase_horvitz_lauter.pdf

Cushman, R., Froomkin, A.M., Cava, A., Abril, P., and Goodman, K.W. (2010). Ethical, legal and social issues for personal health records and applications. Journal of Biomedical Informatics, 43, S51-S55.

Haas, S., Wohlgemuth, S., Echizen, I., Sonehara, N., and Muller, G. (2011). Aspects of privacy for electronic health records. International Journal of Medical Informatics, 80, e26-e31.