Patient Data Security, Article Review Example

Stolen or de-identified health records can lead to operational, strategic, cultural, and political fall-out for the organization who is deemed at fault. Many small non-for-profit health consulting firms, such as the Massachusetts eHealth Collaborative, do not have enough funds to protect their patient records to any substantial extent. Despite this, there is an increasing need to digitalize records and these small firms are necessary to respond to this need. Even though there was no way to protect this information due to lack of funds, it is the organization who will suffer fall-out.

The fall-out that a large organization suffers will be substantially different from a small organization. Each different kind of organization is more likely to have different kinds of risk. For example, a large organization is more likely to suffer from political fall-out as a result of this kind of data loss. Since politicians give large organization funds in order to digitalize records, large companies such as HealthNet are more likely to be subject to investigations that are meant to determine causes of the security breach. Likewise, stolen records are more likely to cause organizational and strategic fall-out for small businesses; once an error like this occurs, a small business may not have funds to rectify this situation and close down. Larger businesses will be able to restructure themselves and are more likely to be able to invest their own money in rectifying the situation and be able to pay legal fees if necessary. Large and small businesses are likely to suffer from similar cultural fall-out. If they do not succeed in their ability to keep patient data safe during the digitalization process, the general public will be less likely to support record digitalization. If the public loses trust in record digitalization, there will be less requirement for these records and less support from the government. It would therefore follow that both of these types of business would lose profit due to a lesser need for services.

References

Greenhalgh, T.; Potts, H. W. W.; Wong, G.; Bark, P.; Swinglehurst, D. (2009). Tensions and paradoxes in electronic patient record research: A systematic literature review using the meta-narrative method. Milbank Quarterly 87 (4): 729–788.

Perlroth, N. (n.d.). Leaky Records. NYT News Service.