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Accuracy and privacy risks of the electronic medical record



As much as we want to believe all the benefits that an electronic medical record system can give us, there are still concerns regarding the vulnerable aspect of accuracy and privacy.

The accuracy risks of the electronic medical record are real. Despite our vision of a "paperless" office, digitized information isn't all that permanent. Just look as today's computer system and you'll see a portent of things to come. Computer viruses pose real risks of the electronic medical record system, which could lead to data corruption or worse, file deletion.

Another accuracy risks of the electronic medical record system involve the interaction between nurses and physicians. Dictations can get lost in translation and the information passed on by the doctor could be entered a something else in the electronic medical record.

The more serious risks of the electronic medical record are the prescription of medication to patients. While doctors can ramble on brand names of medicines, some nurses can barely remember an entire book of generic and branded medicines.

So when the nurses can't fined the brand name of medication written down the electronic medical record, she may end up giving the patient the wrong medicine or not giving them anything at all (just until the stockroom is once again supplied with the prescribed drug). The risks of the electronic medical record error could be the patient's life.

Privacy risks of the electronic medical record are high. This is the leading fear of doctors and patients whenever the digitalization of the healthcare institutions is discussed. The question is who has access to the electronic medical records?

Apparently almost all doctors, nurses and hospital staff with access to the hospital computer can view progress notes, a patient's medical history, diagnosis and test results made by the physician. The security feature runs all risks of the electronic medical record of being jeopardized because of the lack in foresight from the software developers.

Older versions of the electronic medical record only required a password as their gate for security. But because of the risks of the electronic medical record from privacy, biological identifiers are used in addition to passwords so that only the ones who need to know about the patient's condition is allowed to view their record.

Risks of the electronic medical record being shared without the patients' knowledge are great. Hospitals do not have a high security measure for computer systems because they are used to physically compiling a patient's record and storing it in the office cabinet or library. Once the electronic medical record system is in effect, patients are worried that hackers can invade the hospital mainframe and get information about them.

Other concerns about the risks of the electronic medical record are how computerization could increase medical errors instead of decreasing them. This is exemplified by errors in data encoding by the nurse. As the doctor writes something, the nurse adds in her own input making for a crazy looking chart.

The risks of the electronic medical record are real especially when, in the initial progress notes, some people do not disclose necessary information that they would not like their health care insurance provider to find out. When the integration of the electronic medical record set to all the regions, the risks of the electronic medical record will be as threatening as a case of chicken pox - there's no other way to cure it but to just let it take its course.

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