Healthcare Technology and Ethics

Healthcare Technology and Ethics

Select one informatics application or healthcare technology that is used in your practice setting or is of interest to you (ex: electronic medical record, health care app, early warning system, ePrescribing, etc). Please describe the application/techology and discuss the benefits of this, as well as the potential negative consequences, such as ethical or privacy issues.

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Healthcare Technology and Ethics

Healthcare Technology: Electronic Health Records (EHRs)

Description:
Electronic Health Records (EHRs) are digital versions of patients’ paper charts and have become a central component in modern healthcare settings. They contain comprehensive data about patients’ health history, diagnoses, medications, immunization dates, allergies, lab results, and radiology images. These records can be shared across healthcare systems, allowing for a more efficient and coordinated approach to patient care.

Benefits:

1. Improved Patient Care:
   EHRs allow for more accurate and up-to-date patient information, which enhances the quality of care. Healthcare providers have immediate access to patient data, reducing the likelihood of errors and facilitating informed decision-making. For example, when a doctor has access to a patient’s medication history, they can avoid prescribing drugs that could cause dangerous interactions.
2. Increased Efficiency:
   EHRs streamline administrative tasks such as scheduling, billing, and documentation. This leads to reduced paperwork, shorter waiting times for patients, and increased productivity for healthcare providers. EHR systems also enable quick retrieval of test results, improving the speed of diagnosis and treatment.
3. Enhanced Coordination and Communication:
   With EHRs, information can be easily shared among healthcare providers, allowing for better coordination of care, especially in cases where patients see multiple specialists. This reduces redundancies and ensures that all practitioners have access to the same information, preventing miscommunication. Healthcare Technology and Ethics

Potential Negative Consequences:

1. Privacy and Security Risks:
   EHRs contain sensitive health information that could be vulnerable to cyberattacks or unauthorized access. Data breaches, such as hacking into a hospital’s system to steal patient data, pose a significant privacy risk. Even though EHRs are designed with security features, vulnerabilities can still occur, exposing patients’ personal health information to misuse.
2. Ethical Concerns Regarding Data Use:
   While EHRs improve healthcare delivery, they also raise ethical concerns regarding the use of patient data. The unauthorized sharing or selling of…