Question

chai 15th --> Discuss in 500 words, how much redaction is necessary to anonymize an electronic health record. Is it enough to redact the name? The name and address? Is a medical record like a fingerprint?

Answer 1

Redaction is the process of editing where different and multiple type of sources consisting of texts are combined or brought together in order to form a single data. In this there are various alterations done where the data's are not only added but deleted as well.

Reduction is very much required to anonymize and electronic engineering health record of different patients who visit the hospital because it will give a unique identity to the patient and will differentiate from each other. It will be very much useful to the health care team as it will sort the things very easily and quickly. It is not at all enough to redact the name in order to provide anonymity to the patients because many people may be there with the same name and the maiden name and many a times the patient's are wrongly identified and confused with each other. Hence only a change in name would only make confusions while dealing with the patients.

It is also not enough to change the name as well as the address because there might be a coincidence of having same name and living in the same area. It will make more and more confusions and will make it difficult for the care giver to understand and identify the patients. It is necessary to to redact name, IP address, home address , father's name and the diagnosis in order to maintain an anonymity among the people and patients.

Yes a medical record is like a finger print where an individual can be identified with their report which has been maintained by the nurse or physician. It will give the entire detail about the patient's health status and his situation. It will make the care giver easier to identify and provide care to the exact patient .