The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requires that patient health information is protected and secure at all times. The regulations that are in place by HIPAA have an effect on healthcare institutions willingness to share data with other institutions (DeNisco & Baker, 2016). The Electronic Medical Record (EMR) is different from an Electronic Health Record (HER) because the information it contains is intended to be shared.
While both the EMR and her contain protected health information (PHI), an EHRs purpose is to be shared among physicians and hospitals when needed. Unfortunately, sharing this PHI becomes a challenge. Hospitals in particular, “face a “catch-22” situation in responding to the conflicting mandates of developing electronic health records that information sharing across institutions versus ensuring absolute protection and security of patients’ individual health information” (Sarrico & Hauenstein, 2011).
An ethical issue related to HIPAA and the sharing of information through EHRs is sharing information in emergency situations. There are times in the ER when information is crucial for the care of critically ill patients. Is it ethically right to access NUR 514 Topic 7 DQ 2 Discuss possible consequences for compromising patient data and measures you can implement in your own practice to protect patient privacy and confidentiality
Electronic health records (EHR) provide many benefits but do have limitations and offer challenges to legal and ethical practices of the advance nurse. One convenience that has ethical implications is cutting and pasting notes in the patient’s chart. The EHR facilitates the practice of cutting and pasting, this is convenient way to update patient charts but does come with an inherent risk of transferring inaccurate information (Bendix, J., 2019). It is the responsibility of the individual who is doing the documentation that it accurately reflects the patient’s condition.
By cutting and pasting it is possible to continue to document in error. It is always a best practice to chart your own assessment. Protecting the private health information that is in the EHR would have legal implications. One way to protect the EHR is the practice of authentication. Authentication is an attestation the records are genuine, allowing a link to be established with the author of the note (The American Health Information Management Association, 2022). This provides accountability for the patient, knowing exactly who has been charting their record.
In order to utilize the available technological resources in health care responsibly one must be mindful of the environment in which we practice. In my practice to protect the patient’s medical information I work in an individual workspace. I also receive verbal consent by the patient prior to sharing the information with other specialty groups. The job to protect private patient information is the duty of the health care team. It is concerning that technology is evolving so quickly, with this evolution we need to ensure safety measures can keep up.
Bendix, J., (2019). ACP 2019: Overcoming the ethical challenges of EHR. Retrieved from: https://www.medicaleconomics.com/view/acp-2019-overcoming-ethical-challenges-ehrs
The American Health Information Management Association, (2022). Legal Process and Electronic Health Records. Retrieved from: https://library.ahima.org/doc?oid=59559#.Y8Ypby-B1QI
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