Monday, April 3, 2017
QUESTION OF THE WEEK NO. 11
Healthcare providers are moving to a system of
electronic health records where an individual’s entire medical history,
diagnoses, treatments, medications and other health information are maintained
in a digital form. In order to provide
better and more timely health care to individuals, should physicians and other
healthcare providers be able to freely access and share this information with
each other without a patient’s consent?
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No. Health records should only be given to another healthcare provider with the patient's consent. Records should not be available for anyone in the healthcare industry to access at any time, since that power could be abused. Records should be have access limited to those the patient wishes to share them with. Access would still be quick, but more secure and controlled.
ReplyDeleteNo. Healthcare records contain a lot of private, and often sensitive information. I think that the laws around how healthcare providers need to keep patient information private reflects that this information remaining private is deemed to be important. I think that it should be up to the patient of what information can be shared and with whom it can be shared. I don't think that privacy should be sacrificed in the name of convenience.
ReplyDeleteNo. Because people's health data is so sensitive, sharing it without consent among many people means that its security could be compromised, and there would be many ways it could be misused; therefore, it is imperative that patient consent is required. A person should have the right to decide what about their health is shared with others.
ReplyDeleteNo. I really like that the healthcare field is putting all the records online, however, I think that they should only be shared with patients consent. Medical records and diagnoses are very personal and while doctors tend to be very trusted individuals, it is still not to share with everyone. As someone who is around the medical field a lot, I see how often people in the community have a personal relationship with doctors outside of a hospital. For example, if I am a patient getting my appendix out or maybe getting plastic surgery and my next door neighbor is a brain surgeon, they could access my medical records if free access was given to all doctors. I really do not want my neighbor knowing about my medical procedures, especially because they have no business in my surgery. I think that medical records should only be given access to medical professionals involved in the specific surgery.
ReplyDeleteNo. I do not see a reason for a healthcare provider to access patient information without consent. Your healthcare provider should be working with you to create the best plan of action for you. They should not be looking into your situation in secret without you knowing. How would that help anyone? I can see why it is better to keep medical records online instead of paper but that means there has to be more security to protect people.
ReplyDeleteNo. Healthcare information is extremely confidential and should not be shared with any provider aside from those authorized buy the patient; however, if they gave consent to have their info released to other providers I think it would be fine. I also don't see how it could help other providers aside from maybe emergency personnel. Even then that is not enough of a positive to outweigh the potential dangers of accidental mishandling, misuse, and greater risk of hacking.
ReplyDeleteNo. It would be fairly efficient if the patient could consent electronically through a medical database online connected to their health care provider. Consent should probably be required for every time a request is processed. There should also be a policy that allows the patient's family or emergency contacts to give consent in a case that the patient is unable to due to a medical condition, death, or some extenuating circumstance. However, the patient must have provided the name and express permission for that person to do so.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to say yes. And my opinion will be primarily based on efficiency and just the pain that is medical forms. My opinion is definitely swayed by the fact that I am currently trying to work through a lot of red tape to prepare for a study abroad and I can't tell you how many times I've had to go in to the clinic and sign another freaking release form in person or play the middle man between way too many people. I would at lest like the option to opt in to this kind of service. If you had a system whereby you could opt in to file sharing between professionals without consent you would appeal to both the people who value their health record privacy as well as lazy people like myself. On a more serious note, I feel like one of the strongest arguments against this type of information sharing is that you could have a link in the chain of healthcare professionals who may dishonestly disclose this information to a non-healthcare provider. And the more people involved in passing your information the more likely this beach could be. However, my understanding of this type of policy is that it isn't simply a database of every medical record for every person accessible by any person who claims to be a healthcare professional. It's the passing of records between professionals you're more than likely already working with. If this is the case then your records are probably similarly susceptible to hacking right now, and if this isn't the case, one of you will let me know.
ReplyDeleteI can absolutely see the privacy concerns with this kind of system, which is why I think an opt-in service would be ideal. That way the standard practice is to keep these documents presumably more secure unless you otherwise request.
No. Although allowing medical records to be shared between providers would be much easier, it would definitely hurt an individual's right to privacy. I believe this past election cycle helps to explain why this should not take place. It was speculated that Hillary Clinton was suffering from severe medical conditions that could have impeded her ability to serve as president. Imagine if her doctor shared her files with his colleague, and that colleague with another colleague, and sooner or later her records might have been leaked to the press. It might have been discovered that she was indeed suffering, and her chances to become president would have been hurt dramatically. Of course, this is only one potential situation. There are too many risks and potential breaches that could occur. In response to Christian's belief that there should be an "opt-in" situation where you would willingly consent to provide your medical information between professionals...I feel that would be fine, but I don't believe many - if any - would agree to it. I would rather fill out medical form after medical form than consent to a breach in my privacy of that nature.
ReplyDeleteYes. For the same core reason as Christian S., I think that making it easier for doctors to share information efficiently can only be beneficial.
ReplyDeleteDoctor's don't sit around all day digging through medical records thinking "Ooh. I wonder what interesting and embarrassing things I can find out about person X." They don't have the time and, frankly, that sounds horribly boring. Giving every doctor in the US access to your health records wouldn't change this. On the other hand, if you got in a car accident driving to Las Vegas, having the doctors in St. George quickly be able to find out that you are allergic to penicillin could save your life!
Moreover, I'm not quite sure who these laws are designed to protect. Aside potentially from STIs, there is nothing (that I find) embarrassing about health information. If you have a weak heart, that's just a fact, and fewer doctors knowing about it isn't going to change the fact (On the contrary, what if a doctor could use your medical record to know his fancy new under-research medication would help you?).
However, complying with HIPPA is quite expensive, and in some cases (especially for small, under-funded emergency clinics), complying with HIPPA takes away significant resources from patient care.
So, I am not advocating that anybody be able to just log in and search up their new neighbor. Only medical professionals should have access. Additionally, I would argue for some degree of mandatory data protection, which would have costs, but HIPPA reaches too far.
No. The patient should be in charge of what happens to their medical information. In the case of an emergency in which the patient is not able to give input, a previously designated family member can make decisions. I just don't really see why having a universal medical database for all healthcare providers would be necessary. Except maybe in emergency situations, if your doctor wants to recommend you to a specialist or another healthcare provider, wouldn't they talk to you about it first anyway? I guess I just don't really understand why, outside of an emergency, medical providers would have a need to share patient info with other providers without the patient knowing about it.
ReplyDeleteFor example, I had two knee injuries last year. I went to a knee specialist and he recommended I go to physical therapy. I agreed, so, of course he shared all my information with the physical therapist so she could better help me. But why would I not consent to that? And an even better question -- what reason would he have to do it without my consent? If I had said, "No, I absolutely refuse to go to physical therapy!" then that would be my choice and he has no business sharing x-rays and other information with the physical therapy clinic. I don't know why he would want to send them my info without my consent, anyway -- how would that help anyone?
I don't mean to sound petty or frivolous, but I can't think of a better way to ask this question:
DeleteWhat harm would have come to you if the physical therapist had had access to your knee X-rays, but had no reason to look at them?
Yes, I am currently working in the medical information field, and I can tell you that you already consent to sharing your medical information to a whole ton of different healthcare companies. There must be something you sign when you are admitted to a hospital that gives free access to other healthcare systems the hospital is working with, because I have access to all PHI and I have never heard of someone signing a consent form directly to TheraDoc. So I think that this has basically practically been implemented already, where hospitals are able to share information with any other entities that they are working with. Why not just expand the network, as long as it stays in the medical field and is used for medical purposes, I don't see a huge issue.
ReplyDeleteYes. I agree with Christian, Steven, and Simon. There is some potential for that information to leak, but that's going to exist regardless. And as Simon said, having more medical staff with access can only be a good thing.
ReplyDeleteThere will need to be adequate digital security, as well as training for the medical staff who get access, but if that happens, I'm all for it.
No, doctors should not be able to share your medical information without your consent. There may be information that one would like to keep a private as possible, and if doctors are able to share that information without your consent that privacy is lost. I disagree with the argument that no harm will come to an individual if another doctor looks at your x-rays without a reason. I feel that this is a similar argument from earlier in the class about surveillance, that if one has nothing to hide he or she should not worry about being surveilled. I feel that even if no physical harm will occur for the patient it is still an invasion of privacy and one should be able to control where that information goes if they want to.
ReplyDeleteNo. This is the patients information and the patients information only. HIPA is like FERPA but for healthcare information. With the rules laid out in FERPA, carriers of information can only give out any information that the student wants you to know about. Since I work for Housing and Residential Education, I cant tell you whether or not some people exist, let alone any personal information about the alleged person. It should be the same way with HIPA, and to some extent it is. The doctor should only be able to share specific information about you with your express consent.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Christian, Steven, and Simon and think that health care professionals should be able to share this information with each other, provided that there are mechanisms to discourage disclosure of this info o anyone else. The benefits in this case outweigh the downsides, as healthcare becomes increasingly complicated and treatment becomes more intricate and expensive, and sharing information should ideally lessen any wasted time or money in treatment.
ReplyDelete