Patients’ health care information and medical records are very personal and private pieces of information. Therefore, patient privacy and confidentiality are issues that are imperative and are not taken lightly by U. S. law and regulations. However, just because patient privacy and confidentiality is protected by law, it does not always mean that they are upheld. According to Garrett et al. 2009), in medicine “…truthfulness and confidentiality exist in an often uneasy tension” (p. 109).

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This is because privacy and confidentiality depends on the social cooperation of human beings. In an article in the Pamplin College of Business Magazine titled “Privacy or savings? ”, the article focuses on patient privacy and how electronic health records (EHRs) can help the health care industry save billions of dollars, but has considerable risks involved in the U. S that must be taken into account before they are fully implemented in U.S. health care.

This paper will describe the patient privacy issues brought up in the article, the argument and facts that support the use of EHRs as a solution to the issue but what changes are needed, ethical and legal issues of the solution, managerial responsibilities related to the issue, and proposed solutions to the administrative ethical issue. Population Affected The population that is most affected by the privacy issues presented by EHRs are any individuals that have received medical care (patients).

According to Pamplin College of Business Magazine, EHRs “can potentially save billions of dollars in health care costs and increase patient safety, but have considerable risks to individual privacy…” (2011, para. 1). This is a major reason as to why the U. S. health care industry has yet to adopt and fully implement EHRs like other health care industries such as the European Union (EU). Due to EHRs are used over large networks, this means that “more than 150 different people may have access to a patient’s EHR during hospitalization.

While this increased accessibility can facilitate treatment, it also poses a privacy issue for patients” (Volz, 2011, para. 4). Professor Janine Hiller is quoted in the Pamplin article stating that “EU countries have adopted electronic health records and systems, or EHRs, and legally protected privacy at the same time” (Pamplin, 2011, para. 2). Arguments Supporting Solution Hiller claims that if the U. S. health care industry were to implement EHRs, then benefits would include “significant cost savings in storing, processing, and transmitting health care records; fewer medical errors; and improved quality of care” (Pamplin, 2011, para. 4).

Accessibility may be the most persuasive argument to using EHRs. In an article written by Samantha Volz titled “The Advantages and Disadvantages of an HER,” Volz gives an example of the advantage of the accessibility of EHRs stating that “This provides patients an easier time when they have to visit more than one specialist; they will not have to wait long for their records to be transferred” (2011, para. 2). This could be a big factor in effective care for patients.

Volz states that “an estimated one in seven patients have been hospitalized unnecessarily when their medical records were not available for review. If stored electronically, records are often readily available for patients to access as well, leading to more informed patients who can readily understand their health care treatment” (2011, para. 3). EHRs can also be potentially beneficial to health care providers and facilities as well.

For instance, EHRs “reduce the likelihood of errors, since there are no illegible handwriting styles or spelling mistakes to decipher” (Volz, 2011, para. 7). They can also be helpful when a health care provider, for example a physician, must protect him or herself from malpractice claims since “the patient’s information is readily available and cannot be misinterpreted by bad handwriting or other errors” (Volz, 2011, para. 8). And finally, since EHRs are stored electronically, the storage capacity can be an advantage as well.

Since they are electronically stored and do not take up physical space, this means that they are often kept for longer periods of time compared to hard copies (Volz, 2011, para. 6). Ethical and Legal Issues As stated previously, patient privacy is the biggest ethical and legal issue of EHRs. Matthew McMullen is quoted in the article “Privacy or savings? ” in Pamplin College of Business Magazine noting that “weak privacy and security controls can encourage medical identity theft, considered by some government officials to be the fastest growing form of identity theft” (2011, para. 7).

McMullen goes on to state that “Medical identity theft harms not only patients, but all taxpayers and citizens, as it is the foundation for many false claims filed for reimbursement under various government and private insurance plans” (Pamplin, 2011, para. 17). Since EHRs are used over networks, then the Privacy Rule is put into question. The Privacy Rule standards “address the use and disclosure of individuals’ health information as well as standards for individuals’ privacy rights to understand and control how their health information is used.

Basically, for every encounter the patient has with the health care system, the patient has to designate who has the right to receive information regarding medical problems and care” (Garrett et al. , 2009, p. 117). Therefore, the debate remains that if an estimated 150 individuals have access to a patient’s medical record, then does the patient have to grant access to each individual in order for the patient to be put in the EHR system? A key legal issue of implementing EHRs is the conflicting federal and state law of patient privacy.

Hiller states that the U. S. legal framework for health care privacy is “a hodgepodge of constitutional, statutory, and regulatory law at the federal and state levels” (Pamplin, 2011, para. 4). Furthermore, the enactment of the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, which was amended by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act of 2009, has also brought up the difficulties of having compliance.

Some health care organizations may feel that having to comply and ensure that every employee is trained correctly could be more of a burden than an advantage. Another ethical and legal issue is that although Americans have access to their medical records, they “have limited individual power to require corrections or prohibit information sharing and must rely on the good intentions and decisions of the health organization” (Pamplin, 2011, para. 9).

Managerial Responsibilities The biggest responsibilities for health care managers when implementing EHRs is making certain that they are used properly and patient privacy is upheld. Since EHRs are used over large networks, it is easy for hospital staff to view patient information that is not for their eyes. Health care managers must make sure that every staff member is aware that an HER system is a tool and not for “social use. ”

Proposed Solution The solution to the U. S. ealth care industry to implement EHRs is “Strengthening the legal and technical safeguards, which would significantly minimize the privacy and security risks and address public concerns in the U. S. about EHRs” (Pamplin, 2011, para. 3). Hiller states that in order for EHRs to be implemented, then “the legal and technical frameworks cannot stand alone; that they should be developed hand in hand in order to design systems that will effectively protect patient privacy” (Pamplin, 2011, para. 18).

Though we have an abundance of technological advances at our disposal in the U. S. , it is somewhat shocking that this technology has not been fully implemented into the U. S. health care industry. However, patient privacy must not be taken lightly, and this is a major factor to why many health care organizations are hesitant and skeptical to using EHRs within their systems. Until safeguards and privacy laws and regulations are fully integrated and can be agreed upon when using EHRs, then the public concern and organizational concern will halt the use of this technology.

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