Question

What are some prevalent issues found with electric health record

Answer 1

consumer issues

EHR increased the convenience and feasibility of health care administrator but that consumers are in having the constant fear about the rectitude and privacy of their health information.

Privacy issues/security Breaches

In health sector sometimes they misuse the EHR in conflicting situations by invading into privacy breaches with other health personnel that will reduce the patients trust.

security issues occurs when the hospital personnel share the EHR ID and password or unknowingly entered into the system.Mobile devices can easily be misplaced, damaged, or stolen. Emphasis must be laid on encrypting mobile devices that are used to transmit confidential information. so that Portable EHRs can be made more secure by using cloud storage, password protection, and encryption. Usage of two factor authentication system with security tokens and password are helpful in securing EHRs.

Security measures such as firewalls, antivirus software, and intrusion detection software must be included to protect data integrity. Specific policies and procedures serve to maintain patient privacy and confidentiality. For example, employees must not share their ID with anyone, always log off when leaving a terminal and use their own ID to access patient digital records. A security officer must be designated by the organization to work with a team of health IT experts.

Data breaches and inaccuracies

Internal employees sometimes share their password and send emails to the wrong addressee and consequently disclose the personal details of some patients. Sometimes they do not follow formal procedures and are unintentionally given the wrong privileges or authorizations. Moreover, unauthorized access consists of credit card hacking of patients and system or unauthorized employees accessing protected health information. These incidents of data breaches incur an impact on reducing the trust of EHR system in individuals.Inaccurate representation of the patient's current condition and treatment occurs due to improper use of options such as “cut and paste”. This practice is unacceptable because it increases the risk for patients and liability for clinicians and organizations.Loss or destruction of data occurs during data transfer; this raises concerns about the accuracy of the data base as patient care decisions are based on them.

Medical identity theft

The advancement of health care technologies created more opportunities for culprits to commit identity theft. EHRs allow for a larger segment of the population to be exposed to medical identity theft. Medical identity theft is the illegal access by using a patient’s personal information to obtain medical services or goods. Also, the data can be sold to larger organized crime groups throughout the world .Once a medical record has been altered by a criminal, it could be potentially harmful to the victim if they receive improper treatment based on the corrupt information within their file. More patient data resides in the computer systems, as more healthcare organizations move to an electronic medical record format. The ability to download thousands of records from a computer.

physicians issues/Nurses Issues

physicians and nurses spend most of the time for data entry and less time in communication with the patient, nurse and other health workers. physician also will get overhelmed alert messages everyday that make them frustrated.Highly demanding educational and specialized training are given to physicians and nurses.When it comes to health information technology, negative patient attitudes toward EHRs may contribute to decisions by their health care providers to reject EHR use in clinical practice. Additionally, physicians cannot share patient health information electronically with other health care providers without obtaining patient consent.

system configuration issues

Interface issues are the greatest system risk because these failures can be invisible initially. Lack of systemic consideration of users and tasks often results in poor user interface. Poorly designed user interface account for unintended adverse consequence leading to decreased time efficiency, poor quality of care and increased threat to patient safety. Improperly designed user interface fail to deliver the much needed quality of care, which lead to user dissatisfaction. The faulty user interface issue, which was small earlier on, increases over a period of time that leads to abandonment of EHR. Maintenance and testing of these interfaces on a routine basis is essential in controlling this major risk. Practice disruption during EHR implementation can negatively impact the quality of care or endanger patient safety along with financial loss.