Will Privacy Concerns Derail the Electronic Health Record? Balancing the Risks and Benefits

2010 ◽  
pp. 178-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Candace J. Gibson ◽  
Kelly J. Abrams
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Information Technologies ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Resistance To Change ◽  
Hospital Setting ◽  
Electronic Record ◽  
Personal Health Information ◽  
Personal Health ◽  
Barriers And Challenges

The introduction of information technologies and the electronic record in health care is thought to be a key means of improving efficiencies and effectiveness of the health care system; ensuring critical information is readily available at the point of care, decreasing unnecessary duplication of tests, increasing patient safety (particularly from adverse drug events), and linking providers and patients spatially and temporally across the continuum of care as health care moves out of the traditional hospital setting to the community and home. There is a steady movement in many countries towards eHealth and a fully implemented, in some cases, pan-regional or pan-national electronic heath record. A number of barriers and challenges exist in EHR implementation. These include lack of resources (both capital and human resources), resistance to change and adoption of new technologies, and lack of standards to ensure interoperability across separate applications and systems. From the public’s perspective, maintaining the security, privacy, and confidentiality of personal health information is a prominent concern and privacy of personal health information still looms as a potential stumbling block for the implementation of a omprehensive, shared electronic record. There are some steps that can be taken to increase the public’s comfort level and to ensure that these new systems are designed and used with security and privacy in mind.

scholarly journals Six countries, six individuals: resourceful patients navigating medical records in Australia, Canada, Chile, Japan, Sweden and the USA

BMJ Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. e037016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liz Salmi ◽  
Selina Brudnicki ◽  
Maho Isono ◽  
Sara Riggare ◽  
Cecilia Rodriquez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Information ◽  
Medical Records ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
International Standards ◽  
Personal Health Information ◽  
Personal Health ◽  
Care Partners ◽  
Six Nations ◽  
The Usa

In the absence of international standards, widely differing attitudes and laws, medical and social cultures strongly influence whether and how patients may access their medical records in various settings of care. Reviewing records, including the notes clinicians write, can help shape how people participate in their own care. Aided at times by new technologies, individual patients and care partners are repurposing existing tools and designing innovative, often ‘low-tech’ ways to collect, sort and interpret their own health information. To illustrate diverse approaches that individuals may take, six individuals from six nations offer anecdotes demonstrating how they are learning to collect, assess and benefit from their personal health information.

scholarly journals Patient portals and personal health information online: perception, access, and use by US adults

2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (e1) ◽  
pp. e173-e177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sue Peacock ◽  
Ashok Reddy ◽  
Suzanne G Leveille ◽  
Jan Walker ◽  
Thomas H Payne ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
Race And Ethnicity ◽  
Personal Health Information ◽  
Personal Health ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Patient Portals ◽  
The Past ◽  
Patient Race

Background: Access to online patient portals is key to improving care, but we have limited understanding of patient perceptions of online portals and the characteristics of people who use them. Methods: Using a national survey of 3677 respondents, we describe perceptions and utilization of online personal health information (PHI) portals. Results: Most respondents (92%) considered online PHI access important, yet only 34% were offered access to online PHI by a health care provider, and just 28% accessed online PHI in the past year. While there were no differences across race or ethnicity in importance of access, black and Hispanic respondents were significantly less likely to be offered access (P = .006 and <.001, respectively) and less likely to access their online PHI (P = .041 and <.001, respectively) compared to white and non-Hispanic respondents. Conclusion: Health care providers are crucial to the adoption and use of online patient portals and should be encouraged to offer consistent access regardless of patient race and ethnicity.

The HIPAA Privacy Rule: Reviewing the Post-Compliance Impact on Public Health Practice and Research

2003 ◽  
Vol 31 (S4) ◽  
pp. 70-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lora Kutkat ◽  
James G. Hodge ◽  
Thomas Jeffry ◽  
Diana M. Bontá
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Public Health Practice ◽  
Personal Health Information ◽  
Personal Health ◽  
Health Plans ◽  
Privacy Rule ◽  
Public Health Officials ◽  
Hipaa Privacy Rule

Current economic conditions have coincided with the implementation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and forced public health officials to consider how to ethically incorporate compliance into their already strained budgets, while maintaining the integrity and intent of the legislation.As of April 14, 2003, the HIPAA Privacy Rule provides a new federal floor of protections for personal health information. The Privacy Rule establishes standards for the protection of health information held by many physicians’ offices, health plans, and health care clearinghouses. The Rule protects personal health information by establishing conditions regulating the use and disclosure of individually identifiable health information by these entities, also referred to as covered entities. The Rule does not prevent the daily operations of health care establishments (i.e., the treatment of patients and the collection of payment).

scholarly journals Differences in Electronic Personal Health Information Tool Use Between Rural and Urban Cancer Patients in the United States: Secondary Data Analysis

JMIR Cancer ◽  
10.2196/17352 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. e17352
Author(s):  
Alexandra Greenberg-Worisek ◽  
Liaa Ferede ◽  
Joyce Balls-Berry ◽  
Ian Marigi ◽  
Emily Valentin Mendez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Information Technology ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Health Information Technology ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
Personal Health Information ◽  
Personal Health ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Rural And Urban

Background Studies have previously shown that rural cancer patients are diagnosed at later stages of disease. This delay is felt throughout treatment and follow-up, reflected in the fact that rural patients often have poorer clinical outcomes compared with their urban counterparts. Objective Few studies have explored whether there is a difference in cancer patients’ current use of health information technology tools by residential location. Methods Data from 7 cycles of the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS, 2003-2017) were merged and analyzed to examine whether differences exist in managing electronic personal health information (ePHI) and emailing health care providers among rural and urban cancer patients. Geographic location was categorized using Rural-Urban Continuum Codes (RUCCs). Bivariate analyses and multivariable logistic regression were used to determine whether associations existed between rural/urban residency and use of health information technology among cancer patients. Results Of the 3031 cancer patients/survivors who responded across the 7 cycles of HINTS, 797 (26.9%) resided in rural areas. No difference was found between rural and urban cancer patients in having managed ePHI in the past 12 months (OR 0.78, 95% CI 0.43-1.40). Rural cancer patients were significantly less likely to email health care providers than their urban counterparts (OR 0.52, 95% CI 0.32-0.84). Conclusions The digital divide between rural and urban cancer residents does not extend to general ePHI management; however, electronic communication with providers is significantly lower among rural cancer patients than urban cancer patients. Further research is needed to determine whether such disparities extend to other health information technology tools that might benefit rural cancer patients as well as other chronic conditions.

Personal Health Information in the Age of Ubiquitous Health

2010 ◽  
pp. 166-189
Author(s):  
David Wiljer ◽  
Sara Urowitz ◽  
Erin Jones
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Information ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Personal Health Information ◽  
Organizational Level ◽  
Information Communication ◽  
The Public ◽  
Basic Infrastructure ◽  
Privacy Issues ◽  
New Strategies

We have long passed through the information age into an information perfusion in health care, and new strategies for managing it are emerging. The ubiquity of health information has transformed the clinician, the public, and the patient, forever changing the landscape of health care in the shift toward consumerism and the notion of the empowered patient. This chapter explores essential issues of ubiquitous health information (UHI), beginning with its origins in the explosion of health information and the advent of new technologies. Challenges of UHI include privacy issues, change management, and the lack of basic infrastructure. However, benefits for patients include improvements in access to information, communication with providers, prescription renewals, medication tracking, and the ability to self-manage their conditions. Benefits at the organizational level include increased patient satisfaction, continuity of care, changes in costing models and improved standardization of care as organizations streamline processes to address this change in clinical practice.

scholarly journals Driving health behavior: The roles of personal health information use and attitudes towards health in women’s cancer screenings

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 58
Author(s):  
Kristine R. Hearld ◽  
Larry R. Hearld ◽  
Henna Budhwani ◽  
Deirdre McCaughey ◽  
Leandra Y. Celaya ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Information Use ◽  
Personal Health Information ◽  
Personal Health ◽  
Attitudes And Beliefs ◽  
Patient Attitudes ◽  
Patient Centered ◽  
Cancer Screenings ◽  
Centered Care

Objective: Our interest in patient attitudes and beliefs and how they contribute to health and health seeking behaviors is based on growing interest in fostering more patient-centered care. This is particularly relevant for cancer screening in women, where the procedures may be viewed as deeply personal and emotionally invasive. There is convincing evidence that health attitudes and beliefs are strong associates of cancer screening among women. The goal of this paper is to examine if accessibility and use of personal health information (PHI) is a positive predictive of cancer related health detection behaviors among United States women. This study is relevant and timely considering the growing focus on prevention in patient-centered care delivery.Methods: Using data from the 2017 Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS), this paper employed multivariable path analysis to investigate whether PHI use is related to engaged women’s health detection behaviors, and if this relationship is mediated by self-perceived health status and patient attitudes regarding confidence in their self-care abilities.Results: This study found that PHI use worked directly on health detection behaviors for intermediate levels of health information only. Our findings also suggest that patient attitudes may only act as a mediator at low levels of information use and when both confidence in self-care abilities and self-assessed health status are considered simultaneously.Conclusions: As prevention continues to be a key focus of health care, efforts promoting enhanced population health are critically important. With greater expansion of patient portals, health systems and providers are expecting access to greater PHI will promote increased engagement by patients in their self-health. The results of our research suggest that PHI is positive for patients up until a point and that health care delivery professionals may wish to assess the amount and type of information made readily available to the patients they serve related to breast and cervical cancer screenings.

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