Health Information Ethics And Law †Myassignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about theHealth Information Ethics and Law. Answer: Introduction: Trust between patients and doctors considered as a keystone in maintaining proper care within the setting in which patients safety or privacy nowadays gained a substantial space in the healthcare system. In this regard, the common law and statute has included the confidentiality and privacy of health of the patients, which is also supported by medical ethics guidelines. Patients privacy is often considered to be paramount, but in some circumstances the privacy of patients health information could put public health at risk (Fitzroy Legal Service, Inc, 2016). Ethical principles are to be added to the common health standards (Harman, 2006). The purpose of this essay is to focus on the impact of patients health confidentiality on the healthcare system. Discussion In the healthcare system, confidentiality is often refers to the responsibility of professionals, who can access the records of patients or any kind of communication to keep the records in confidence manner. The professional responsibility to keep the patients records in confidence is also supported by Professional Association Codes of Ethics. In this context, it is stated that confidentiality is regarded as the communication between health professionals and patients or between a nurse and other health professionals (UIC, 2016). Health Information Technologies Healthinformationtechnologiespresentincreasedrisktopatientorclienthealthinformationprivacy. Health information technology has changed the healthcare systems through the use of technologies such as electronic medical reports and prescriptions, which has provided more satisfactory and quick service to the patients along with better outcome (Rowe Calnan, 2006). Healthcare information technology is an electronic system plays a significant role of healthcare professionals. The system includes, electronic health records, which allows the professionals to keep a track of all the patients health conditions. The technology focuses to enhance the health results, recovery in patients health, smarter spending and maintaining trust within the patients. A patient might not support the health information system, which influences them to feel that the privacy or confidentiality and the accuracy of digital health information can be a risk. The healthcare systems can suffer if breach occurs in the health information, which would make the healthcare institution to lose its reputation in the domain. Health record refers to the key storage for patients health information based on which professionals can treat the patients according to their medical history (The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information technology, 2015). Installing the health information technology in healthcare institutes may have privacy concerns due to theft and hackers as well as illegal access to the patients information (Herrick, Gorman Goodman, 2010). In addition to this, further risks may also include inaccurate information of the patients, in case the information recorded manually afterwards. It may also happen in certain circumstances that the healthcare unable to access the electronic health records due to technical errors, wherein the professionals will not have any other sources to acquire patients health information. The electronic health records are often subjected to potential malpractices such as loss and destruction of data or may include false health record during the data entry. In this regard, it is observed that the healthcare professionals largely rely on the electronic health records that may lead to less interaction with the patients or lack of proper communication. On the other hand, the patients also need to have knowledge on their health condition. However, due to lesser communication they might not be provided to necessary information, which can frighten them (The University of Kansas Medical Center, 2016). Concerning the stated issue, it is further evident that the health information manager is responsible for collecting, storing, analysing and distributing the information relating to the health. The managers design and control the information systems through which they collect and produce patients reports. To maintain such responsibilities, the managers utilise their knowledge and skills to monitor diseases in the computer systems. Therefore, it can be affirmed that the health information managers are the key individuals in using the medical reports of the patients, who can maintain the confidentiality of the information with the support of suitable practices for protecting the patients information (Health Information Management Association of Australia Limited, 2016). Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record In practice, Australias proposed Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record (PCEHR) presents challenges for the privacy and confidentiality of patients and clients health information. PCEHR (Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record) was previously known as My Health Record, launched in the year 2012. PCEHR can be defined as the online summary of the patients health information, which was accessible to both patients and professionals (2Commonwealth of Australia, 2016). The electronic health record has become one of the major advancements related to the healthcare services. PCEHR was originally proposed by the government of Australia in order to improve the healthcare systems as a whole. The system states that the electronic healthcare system can be controlled and used by the healthcare professionals as well as the patients, but it include certain unethical approaches such as revealing the patients health information for illegal purposes due to which it started to pose challenge for patients confidentiality or privacy. The protection and preservation of the patients healthcare system is solely depended on the operators. Thus, it can be doubted that the info rmation might be exploited by the authorised person in an unethical way, which indirectly harm the patients as well as the organisation (Begum, Mamun Kaosar, 2013). PCEHR refers to an opportunity for improving the continuity and results of patients health, which also reduces the waste and inefficiency in the healthcare system. The Introduction of PCEHR in Australian healthcare system concentrated on providing safe, national infrastructure in order to sustain electronic health records (Partel, 2015). Taking the reference from the above stated concerns, it is also observed that EPRS (Electronic Patient Record System) is one of the challenges that all the health organisations professionals face in current domain. To mitigate all these concern, the healthcare setting must concentrate on risk management aspect while implementing electronic healthcare records (Meranda, 1995). Confidentiality and privacy of the health information of the patient is the most essential part of the PCEHR. Healthcare system has become the most complicated setting, which makes difficult for the management to control policies relating to access of data. The electronic health record often leads to minimising the workflow and maximising the flexibilities. The operators can also access the information breaching the privacy and confidentiality agreements. Thus, to address this type of risks, it is essential to recognise and examine these challenges relating to the present electronic health information system. This in turn can provide solutions to overcome the problems, to make successful outcome of PECHR in Australia (Yin et al., 2015). Despite the significant investment by the Australian Government in the development of the electronic health record, the proposal has proven to be difficult to implement. The experts confirmed that huge support have observed for continuing the electronic health record method in Australia previously. It is also apparent that the electronic health records remained a serious part of the Australian health structure and still continue to develop the process to enhance the overall outcome. To meet the challenges of the electronic health records, the Australian government allocated 140.6 Australian dollars to support the PCEHR in the budget of 2014-2015 (1Commonwealth of Australia, 2016). Trust in Healthcare System TrustisacriticallyimportantfactorinthemanagementandhandlingofpatientsandclientshealthinformationinAustralia. Trust in healthcare is an essential factor in building relationship between the patients and the healthcare professionals. In previous era, wherein the involvement of technology was comparatively lesser, trust between the healthcare professionals and patients was high. This is largely because of the status of doctors and dedication towards the patients. Prior to implementing technologies in the healthcare system, the professionals believed that trust is the most essential part in order to encounter healthcare problems as well as serving satisfactory service to patients (European Public Health Association, 2016). The patients have the right to know about their health information confidentiality and the process of maintenance. In this context, the question may arise regarding the effectiveness of the confidentiality and the privacy of health information that has been created by the healthcare professionals. It has become the most vital issue specifically in the NSW, IVF, Australia Pty Ltd (Mair, 2008). In this regard, the healthcare information manager is responsible for maintaining trust between the patients and the healthcare system by collecting, aggregating, analysing and maintaining the information regarding their health. The managers are also responsible for representing patients interests with regards to the confidentiality and privacy. The patients trust towards the healthcare professionals in safely keeping the information related to their health information is also ensured by them (Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates, 2016). Conclusion The privacy of healthcare information is essential in the healthcare systems. Confidentiality and privacy of the patient health information help to builds trust between the patients and the healthcare professionals. In this regard, the introduction of advanced technologies in the healthcare system has made it possible to ensure that the records are maintained in proper way and maintain a reliable relation with its patients. This further helps in providing adequate care along with proper medication to the patients by analysing their previous health conditions. The introduction of PCEHR by the Australian government has been able to give detailed summary on the patients health information based on which it is stated that PCEHR has become one of the most used technology for controlling the private and confidential information of the patient as well as for eliminating malpractices of health information. References Begum, M., Mamun, Q. 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B., 2006, Ethical challenges in the management of health information, Jones Bartlett Learning, United States of America. Health Information Management Association of Australia Limited, 2016, Representing health information professionals since 1949, HIMAA, viewed 31 August 2016, https://himaa2.org.au/?q=node/96 Herrick, D. M., Gorman, L. Goodman, J. C., 2010, Health information technology: benefits and problems, National Center for Policy Analysis, no. 327, pp. 1-24. Mair, J., 2008, Privacy laws: Who owns information compiled as part of a business?, Health Information Management Journal, vol. 37, no. 1, pp. 55-57. Meranda, D., 1995, Administrative and security challenges with electronic patient record systems, Journal of AHIMA/American Health Information Management Association, pp. 5-60. Partel, K., 2003, Toward better implementation: Australias my health record, Deeble Institute Issues Brief, pp. 1-20. Rowe, R. Calnan, M., 2006, Trust relations in health carethe new agenda, The European Journal of Public Health, vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 4-6. The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information technology, 2015, Revised guide to privacy and security of electronic health information, Guide to Privacy and Security of Electronic Health Information, pp.1-62. The University of Kansas Medical Center, 2016, Risks and benefits of electronic health records, Health Information Security Privacy Collaboration (HISPC), viewed 31 August 2016, https://www.kumc.edu/health-informatics/hispc/for-consumerspatients/risks-and-benefits-of-electronic-health-records.html UIC, 2016, Confidentiality, privacy and security of health information: Balancing interests, Home, viewed 31 August 2016, https://healthinformatics.uic.edu/resources/articles/confidentiality-privacy-and-security-of-health-information-balancing-interests/ Yin, X., et al. 2015, Health information science, Springer, United States of America.