Software for Human Services

Electronic health records (EHR) are health records that are generated by health care professionals when a patient is seen at a medical facility such as a hospital, mental health clinic, or pharmacy. The EHR contains the same information as paper based medical records like demographics, medical complaints and prescriptions. There are so many more benefits to the EHR than paper based medical records. Accuracy of diagnosis, quality and convenience of patient care, and patient participation are a few examples of the

Although the EHR is still in a transitional state, this major shift that electronic medical records are taking is bringing many concerns to the table. Two concerns at the top of the list are privacy and standardization issues. In 1996, U.S. Congress enacted a non-for-profit organization called Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). This law establishes national standards for privacy and security of health information. HIPAA deals with information standards, data integrity, confidentiality, accessing and handling your medical information. They also were designed to guarantee transferred information be protected from one facility to the next (Meridan, 2007). But even with the HIPAA privacy rules, they too have their shortcomings. HIPAA can’t fully safeguard the limitations of who’s accessible to your information. A short stay at your local

There were concerns related to risks of hackers, malware attacks, password changes which can be disruptive to the clinical workflow and can lead to inefficiency. Human errors, inadequate knowledge and ability to use PHR (health literacy). Are the patients aware of the HIPAA regulations? Some patients of a particular age group refrain from using PHR. Interoperability which is the core purpose of electronic health records is also one of the primary concerns. The use of unauthorized USB drives can lead to the malware attack which may interoperability. The other questions that needs to be answered is despite encryption, firewalls which have been initiated to maintain security, there are still concerns about data security

In a large service-related Healthcare organization with the staff to patient ratio approximately 1:100, there is a greater threat by technology of breaching security records. Medical records include information about ones physical and mental being. They may contain information about ones relationship with family members, sexual behavior, drug or alcohol problems and HIV status ( Burke & Weill, 2005). The confidentiality is threatened when the medical records information is put on the Internet, by use of telemedicine, and by the use of e-mail by healthcare workers. Although this is the fastest way to store and share

Electronic health records were a technological advancement in the healthcare industry in which paper patient record’s became digital. The transition from paper to digital charting allowed easier, quicker access to patient information for those who were authorized to do so. EHRs are secure and protected with username and password access only. It contains information such as patient medical history, procedures, diagnoses, medications, labs, tests, and treatments. Healthcare professionals and organizations who are authorized to access a patient’s electronic health record can do so at ease via a secure network or online database (HealthIT, 2013).

Under the HIPAA Security Rule, health care providers are required to conduct an accurate and thorough analysis of the potential risks and vulnerabilities. Protecting the confidentiality, integrity, availability, and privacy of data in health care is very important. For a risk analysis, health care providers would prioritize risks based on the severity of the impact that it would cause their patients and practices (Security Risk Analysis TipSheet, 2014). In addition, identifying the potential threats to patient privacy and security (Security Risk Analysis TipSheet, 2014). A risk analysis process would include determining the likelihood and impact of potential risk to electronic protected health information, implementing security measures to

In this paper we identify security risks surrounding Electronic Medical Records (EMR) and discuss strategies healthcare providers can employ to mitigate those risks. We begin with a brief overview of the legislative history driving the rapid adoption of EMR and other health information technology.

The electronic protected health information (ePHI) gets electronically stored and collected in hard copy form as they secure the information. According to the U.S. Department of health and Human Service Office for Civil Rights (OCR) report, millions of people have been impacted by HIPAA data breaches. Hence, healthcare organizations must protect and secure personal health data now more than ever because of the threats that are associated with information. This would substantially increase the protection of healthcare from cyber threats. Moreover, these people are extremely diverse and the cleverness of their data information must be organized within hospitals. Medical records are in high demand because of the sophistication of the records.

3. Compliance – It is common for organizations to keep track of activities, adherence to rules, fulfillment of commitments, and obligations of each client. This is done not only for the organizations benefit, but also for reporting to stakeholders. ClientTrack simplifies data management and saves valuable time. “[It’s] solutions provide common social service compliance reports and processes that are automatically updated as compliance needs change” (Benefits...ClientTrack, 2013).

Some may mix up an EHR and Electronic Medical Record (EMR) because of some of their similarities. However, they are different in many aspects. “The EHR contains patient health information gathered from the EMRs of multiple HCD organizations and is electronically stored and accessed. EHRs differ from EMRs because they contain subsets of patient information from each visit that a patient has experienced, possibly at many different HCD systems. EHRs are interactive and can share information among multiple healthcare providers (Darline 4).” “Meaning it has digital version of charts, streamlined sharing of updated, real time sharing, patient’s medical information to move with them, and access tools for decision making (EHRvEMR 1).” Although, this is the best electronic system used, there are more electronic systems out there that are used. The EMR is among the many used. It is defined as an electronic version of patient files within a single organization. “EMR has digital records of an individual’s

     Abstract:  Electronic medical databases and the ability to store medical files in them have made our lives easier in many ways and riskier in others.  The main risk they pose is the safety of our personal data if put on an insecure an insecure medium.  What if someone gets their hands on your information and uses it in ways you don't approve of? Can you stop them?  To keep your information safe and to preserve faith in this invaluable technology, the issue of access must be addressed.  Guidelines are needed to establish who has access and how they may get it.  This is necessary for the security of the information a, to preserve privacy, and to maintain existing benefits.

In a world full of electronics it would only seem logical to have health records electronic. Not only are medical records efficient, reliable, and quick to access, new technology allow patients to access their own personal medical records with a simple to use login and password. “People are asking whether any kind of electronic records can be made safe. If one is looking for a 100% privacy guarantee, the answer is no”(Thede, 2010). At my hospital, upon every admission we ask the patient for a password for friends and family to have to have if they would like an update on the patient 's condition. We do not let visitors come up and see the patient without the patient 's consent. In doing these things, we help to ensure the safety and protection of the patient 's health information and privacy.

Clinical information systems is a tool used to reduce the chance of errors in healthcare records. It double checks, organizes, and stores all medical information. Everyone’s personal healthcare history is kept together. Some of the benefits of this system are: easy access to patient data, structured information, and improved prescription and patient safety. There are some barriers of the system, however. The cost of this clinical information technology is a stumbling obstacle for some organizations to pass, there are still major concerns of their privacy and security data, and clinician resistance is also a problem if it takes longer than 10-20 minutes

The amount of risk in the field of health care and banking systems is enormous. In the health care industry the risks are very high compared to other organizations. The usage of new technologies such as smart medical devices, cloud services, and electronic protected health information offer a number of operational benefits but the risk of losing the data or data being manipulated is very high. As hackers can hack into the cloud storage and manipulate the data. There are few challenges which are as follows.

Protecting the data related to health sector, business organizations, information technology, etc. is highly essential as they are subject to various threats and hazards periodically. In order to provide security, the information has to adapt to certain risk analysis and management techniques which has to be done dynamically with the changes in environment. This paper briefly describes about analyzing the security risks and risk management processes to be followed for electronic health records to ensure privacy and security.