HIPAA And Information Technology
Week 2 – HIPAA and Information Technology Checkpoint
There are several advantages in having a standardized medical database. The most important advantage is a standardized medical database will offer medical facilities access to the patient records more easily. If a patient decides to change health care providers or if an emergency situation arose the patient would be able to receive service immediately. The database will contain patient’s medical information, so that if a patient were to encounter a medical emergency their medical files would be easy to obtain in order to treat the patient for the particular injury or illness. For example, if I were taken to the emergency room, the doctor would able to see that I am allergic to the
medication Ceclor. So having a standardized medical database is very important in my personal opinion.
However, there are some disadvantages in having a standardized medical database and that is encountering issues with HIPPA. With such large databases, there is a possibility of pulling a patients record by mistake, which opens the door for the possibility of theft of identity which violates the patient’s privacy. Patient confidentiality is vital in any medical facility, and it is very important to keep the patients information as confidential as possible to avoid possible lawsuits. I feel that technology is so far behind in the medical records industry, because most industries are all computerized and this industry works primarily off paper documents. I feel increased technology will aid in companies providing outstanding service for their patients.
There are several advantages in having a standardized medical database. The most important advantage is a standardized medical database will offer medical facilities access to the patient records more easily. If a patient decides to change health care providers or if an emergency situation arose the patient would be able to receive service immediately. The database will contain patient’s medical information, so that if a patient were to encounter a medical emergency their medical files would be easy to obtain in order to treat the patient for the particular injury or illness. For example, if I were taken to the emergency room, the doctor would able to see that I am allergic to the
medication Ceclor. So having a standardized medical database is very important in my personal opinion.
However, there are some disadvantages in having a standardized medical database and that is encountering issues with HIPPA. With such large databases, there is a possibility of pulling a patients record by mistake, which opens the door for the possibility of theft of identity which violates the patient’s privacy. Patient confidentiality is vital in any medical facility, and it is very important to keep the patients information as confidential as possible to avoid possible lawsuits. I feel that technology is so far behind in the medical records industry, because most industries are all computerized and this industry works primarily off paper documents. I feel increased technology will aid in companies providing outstanding service for their patients.