The Pros And Cons Of Information Technology Ethics

Being a non-traditional student, I have the opportunity to attend school while also pursuing a career in Information Technology (IT). Within the field of IT there are many avenues to explore ethics depending on the type of business that is being supported, or what the technical specialty may be. For instance, if the business operates in a medical environment that treats patients, there are privacy concerns, and ethical standards that must be followed. The same can be said for the financial community, and education. While the breadth of Information Technology and the available specializations are vast, perhaps even more impressive are the amount of trust and ethical burden placed on the Information Technology professional.

There is no doubt in that technology has multifaceted benefits but, at the same time, it has forced mankind to feel insecure. Every industry depends upon the data of the customers and the health industry is no more an exception here. The data of each patient is shared to facilitate health itself and for more rigorous and authentic research. Hence, protecting patient data is very important. It is so important that in 1996, the federal government introduced the Health Insurance

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

Another downfall or disadvantage of using this software is the concerns of client’s security. Most individuals think a disadvantage would be the security vulnerability for the client’s medical records. The ultimate concern is that hackers are still out there and may steal client’s personal information and possible compromise their identity. It does not matter how many password encryptions, security features added, and firewalls are put up, hackers can get in there. However, there are also companies that specialize in security measures for the maintenance of Electronic Health Records software.

Use a secure repository for healthcare records, like contract management software. It will guard your organization against breaches. It encrypts information stored electronically, possesses strong password protection, and implements two-factor authentication for access to all systems.

Being a non-traditional student I have the opportunity to attend school while also pursuing a career in Information Technology (IT). Within the field of IT there are many avenues to explore ethics depending on the type of business that is being supported, or what the technical speciality may be. For instance, if the business operates in medical environment that treats patients, there are privacy concerns, and ethical standards that must be followed. The same can be said for the financial community, and education. While the breadth of Information Technology and the available specializations are vast, perhaps even more impressive is the amount of trust and ethical burden placed on the Information Technology professional.

Privacy- Patient privacy and information security is a common concern. Patient’s rights to privacy must be maintained. With computerized data, anyone with the appropriate permission can gain access to patient data. Security measures must be in place to insure patient privacy (Yoder-Wise, 2011, p. 219).

Information technology(IT) in the 21st century has brought in several innovative changes in the physician practice and hospital system.There are several new possibilities and opportunities for information use and communication, at the same time there are new ethical, clinical, and legal concerns that have arisen with the use of information technology.As healthcare is growing complex, the majority of the studies focuses on new modalities of diagnosis and treatment.Conversely, no effort is targeted on improving operational systems.Although IT has brought in a mass customization, it poses threat to the medical safety ( Jorgenson, Notman, Benedek, & Malmquist, 2011). Recently, privacy and security concerns

Safety features incorporated into an HIS to protect patient information include, but are not limited to: access to protected information limited to only those who need access, password utilization for those who need access, automatic sign-off to limit availability of protected information, placement of devices with protected information, firewalls and antivirus software to prevent intrusion into system, encryption use while transmitting protected information, and audit capabilities to monitor who is accessing the protected information. Through security features, the

Menachemi and Collum stated that to relieve some concern administration have done many things in order to reduce risks of anything happening to patient records. Although patient privacy will continue to be a concern hospitals and individual organizations are taking many steps in order to make sure their EHR systems adhere to the strict laws that are set forth to ensure patient confidentiality (Menachemi and Collum, 2011). It’s obvious that data systems can be one-hundred percent secure, but there was new legislation set forth that makes accessing patient information inappropriately very hard. ACCORDING to Menachemi and Collum (2011), another disadvantage is disruption to the nurses and doctors workflow throughout the day. This reduced workflow could result in loss of productivity. Since the use of EHRs are associated with few errors, and shorter stays within the hospital, it is possible that a health care provider can forget about certain “billable transactions”, thus resulting in loss of revenue (Menachemi and Collum, 2011). As a patient we can’t have our information being hacked or doctors/nurses forgetting things that they have to

Clinging our research onto (Ghazisaeedi, Mohammadzadeh, & Safdari, 2014), electronic health records is a digital version of a patients health record or chart. It is unique in its own way since information is readily available and restricted to a number of users hence maximum security. Information in it is confidential since it contains medical reports of patients which include their progress, reaction towards treatment and a record of treated illnesses. Not only does Electronic health records contain the information or date named above but also tests and results taken on patients over certain duration of time. As a result, this helps in correct procedures and work flow in health institutions.

Electronic Health Records (EHR) become the promise of faster, better and more coordinated health care and this promise became a regulatory requirement for health care providers. The problems with paper medical records have been changed into new and different problems with EHRs. Many hidden factors affect the security and usability of EHRs. The goal of EHR is better clinical outcomes, improved population health, enhanced transparency and better efficiency in healthcare. However, the ethical use of EHR is dependent on its clinical users (Iyer, Leone, & Zapotochny Rufo, 2015). Today hospitals and providers settings have grown wired and dependence on the electronic creation, transmission and storage of data has increased. Many users who access the medical information has little knowledge about computers and have little intuition toward security practices such as logging off or locking the

This leads to the importance of patient information and how this information is extremely valuable due to the fact that it contains health information, identity information as well as financial in formation such as account numbers. Failing to secure this information leads to expert hackers being able to access this information. If the expert hacker is successful, this may be extremely

Maintaining patients’ safety is vital for the health industry. As the world we live in continue to change so should the way we correct or improve certain matters. Technology advancements is something that have a level of control on the way things function in the health industry. Patients’ safety and health technology information goes hand and hand, towards protecting the individuals involved. Many healthcare data proposes that medical mistakes and errors result from complex systems. Thus, health providers aren’t always responsible for medical errors. That why it’s vital to have solutions on ways to improve cost, quality care, and patient safety. The benefits of using health information technology systems, is having access to medical records

I recognize the importance of informatics in healthcare and utilize it safely by following hospital protocol. In addition, I use technology to locate reliable information related to patient care in order to support decision making. I am cautious of my surroundings when patient sensitive information is in use and take the necessary steps to safeguard private files.