Personal Health Record concerns with students discussion
respond to one other student thoughtfully.
1st student discussion
The PHR or Patient Health Record is an amazing tool that offers the patient immediate and unlimited access to their health data. With many technological advancements, there often comes some concerns. PHR definitely raises some of those concerns.
One of my first concerns is directed toward how much information the patient has access to. While it is well known that patients have full access to their health care records, few patients actually invoke that right. Having worked in the medical field, I have had conversations with providers regarding information they have written in a patient’s chart. Some information they may want noted should another provider see the patient, but not necessarily documentation for the patient’s view. My concern would be that line of communication being impaired in the systems that grant the patient full access to their record. In my opinion there needs to be a certain amount of provider confidentiality.
Another concern would be the question of who has access to you PHR. While access does have to be granted via the patient, there could be instances where the person granted access may use your personal healthcare information in a vindictive manner. Is it wise to give people internet access to your private information?
The major driving concern stems from patient privacy. Not all PHR’s are HIPPA covered entities. In a 2008 article by Linda Thede, she writes about Google, the search engine giant, launching Google Health. They launched a free service for patients offering a personal electronic medical record (www.google.com/health). She then went on to cite Zeman in the 2008 blog titled, “Google Says Privacy Doesn't Exist, Get Used To Everyone Knowing Everything About You,”. In this post it was reported that in court, Google stated “...complete privacy simply doesn't exist in today's world”. I find this to be a scary statement coming from a company that manages one’s personal Health record. I wonder if this had anything to do with Google closing the doors on Google Health Jan. 1, 2012?
PHRs and the HIPAA Privacy Rulehttps://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/special/healthit/phrs.pdf
Thede, L. PhD RN-BC (2008) Informatics: Electronic Personal Health Records: Nursing’s Role https://ojin.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/ANAMarketplace/ANAPeriodicals/OJIN/Columns/Informatics/Electronic-Personal-Health-Records.html