Criteria A
This portfolio addresses the issue of whether patients should rely on having their health records stored electronically. This IT problem involved society because ‘Electronic health records concern some of a person's most sensitive data, which therefore deserves the highest degree of protection against all kinds of abuse.’ (euActiv.com, Electronic Health Records)
This situation has a positive side in the way it conveys that technology is developing in important places such as hospitals and clinics. It is also able to increase the speed of work, and saves clinicians from reading illegible handwriting. ‘For doctors, hospital operators, medical personnel and caretakers, the advantage of the electronic health record is the opportunity it provides to structure, automate and streamline their workflow’ (euActiv.com, Electronic Health Records). Records could be easily accessed, read and sent throughout the workplace with accurate and up-to-date information.
A negative side of this situation would be the reliability and accessibility. How reliable can computers be considering that the information is not physically in the clinician’s hands? Doctors and clinicians can never be sure when a power shortage will occur and what information they will lose. Also, because such incidents may happen, it can slow down productivity which could affect clients and also lose business.
An ethical issue involved with this situation is health. ‘EHRs can include information on patient demographics, treatment progress, problems, medications, vital signs, past medical history, immunizations, laboratory data and radiology reports’(euActiv.com, Electronic Health Records). If the information is not recorded accurately or has been exposed to hackers, it would affect the patient severely. It is helping the medical field with its technological improvements, but what needs to be in mind is exactly how much they can be relied on.
