Question

Dr. Buthainah is a family physician who refuses the use of EHR in her clinic because she believes that her patients' health information is not secure in the EHR. As a health informatics specialist, write a 150-200 words letter explaining to her actions that have been taken by governments and professional bodies to safeguard EHR data. 300 wordss

 

Answer 1

The actions that have been taken by governments and professional bodies to safeguard EHR data are:

• Access control is the safety measures which safeguards the EHR by having passwords and PIN numbers which can be only accessed by authorized individuals like patients, doctors and nurses.
• The stored information is encrypted and can only understood by someone who can decrypt it by using a special key made available only to authorised personal
• HIPPA law requires covered entities to conduct routine evaluation to check the effectiveness of security programs
• Additionally EHR's will provide audit trials and other privacy, security features

The importance of health care records should be explained to Dr. Buthainah

• It is easy to access and the data is portable whereas the information in the registers cannot be carried everywhere
• To protect the personal health information certified electronic health record software should be used.
• It is the easier way of communication and decrese the risk of medical errors
• It ensures adequate transparency and patient confidentiality
• It provides up to date and complete information about patient health history
• It helps to provide more coordinated and effective care
• It enables safer and more reliable prescribing
• Electronic health records can improve the accuracy of diagnosis and health care costs