Administrative Ethics - Protecting a Patient's Privacy with Technology

Administrative Ethics

Protecting a Patient’s Privacy with Technology

HCS/335

October 10, 2011

Patrick Nicovich

Protecting a Patient’s Privacy with Technology

The use of technology in health care organization is expanding and changing every day; so the concerns about patient privacy and confidentiality are a reality. The challenges and risks when caregivers use technology in which sharing private information is common, for example, sharing confidential patient data between providers, and institutions using Electronic Medical Records (EMR). The risks of “hacking” sensitive patient information are a concern for health care providers, and it is a priority in safeguarding.

Privacy is the right to determine which personal information is shared with whom and for what purpose (Erickson & Millar, 2005). Privacy issues associated with electronic communication is a nurse manager’s administrative ethical problem, especially when clinical staff has unauthorized computer access to patients’ clinical information; this is easier process to access private patient information than access to his or her paper records. Electronic data cannot lock in a file cabinet like paper records but can lock electronically, and depending on the staff’s security level, he or she can access confidential information securely, and secured access is authorized by a nurse manager.

Other privacy and confidentiality issues when using technology is the use of facsimiles; patients and clinical staff commonly use fax machines to send patient information to other health care providers or institutions, and it is the least secure method of transferring confidential data electronically (Peg Kerr, 2009). Cell phones or smart phones and e-mail are another insecure technology used preferably by patients to communicate between themselves and his or her providers (Kerr, 2009). Smart phones provide computer and access to the World Wide Web (Internet), this equipment is technology-driven and used by clinicians to have access to his or her organization’s health care database. They can use these smart phones to access the database and check for drug interactions concerning his or her patient, calculate the correct dosage amounts, and consult evidence-based practice resources.

Few policies exist that provide standards for using cell phones and smart phones in a health care setting (Kerr, 2009). This new and innovative technology is a concern for health care organizations; if confidential information is intercepted by criminals, or misused by staff, or administrators, the legal ramifications may be financially detrimental to the existence of the organization.

The World Wide Web is