Healthcare Informatics Resources

I get the same feeling too. As we speak, the private sector, communities, states and federal agencies are racing to build Electronic Health Records systems without adequate privacy protections. Congress has fallen far behind in protecting peoples’ right to health privacy. We hear about violations and abuses of privacy and of records almost monthly. Current laws do not adequately protect electronic health records, leaving the marketplace for “personal health records” and other products the “gold rush” of Health IT. 
Uncorrected, this can lead to the crippling of our healthcare system. When patients do not trust doctors or the health care system to protect their privacy, they withhold information, they delay or avoid care, and they become sicker.
Without control and trust, patients will not see physicians or use the health care system in an effective manner. Wary healthcare consumers will drive up costs and increase the danger to others. Further, the data collected and stored will be incomplete and filled with inaccuracies and omissions.
Without congressional input or oversight, a national electronic health records system will be built that will destroy privacy, and more importantly Americans’ trust in their health care system. All this bad news will get worse if “we” do not act to prevent it – now.

Original Post:
March 6, 2009
The past two healthcare systems I have worked for have gone to a system that will allow the providers with in the hospital to communicate with each other. Patient information can be shared from the office to the hospital and within the hospital between departments. Each healthcare system has actually acquired the same company to build their system. They feel that they have a say in what information is used and can also limit access to different individuals based on that individuals job position. With so much stealing of information that goes on within cyberspace, this does worry me. All systems are not foul proof. There are many individuals that spend countless hours trying to hack into systems in order to gain information. This is a problem for healthcare when we are supposed to be acting as patient advocates and keep our patients safe. This includes their private medical information.

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