Question

Discuss some of the potential conflicts between a patient's right to privacy and information needed for public health and medical research.

Answer 1

With a rapid adaptation of Electronic Health Records serious conflicts in patient's right of privacy need to be addressed .

Some of the important conflicts are as:​​​​​

• Lagislative gaps :

​​​​​​​ Federal legislation, such as HIPAA ( Health insurance portability and accountability act) and the HITECH Act(health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health) need to safeguard the protected health information (PHI).

HIPPA and consumer privacy bill of rights creates an odd Lagislative gap. Consumer privacy bill of rights excludes the patient to the extent their information is protected by HIPPA. It is fact that HIPPA privacy rule was not even intended as best practices standard for privacy protection by the department of human and health services.  

Thus the HIPAA protected health information (PHI) is not beneficial from the consumer privacy bill of rights.

• A Lack of trust:

​​​​​​​Maintaining the trust is the cornerstone of a complete and successful health care. Lack of trust may affect the willingness of patient to disclose their health information that will result in the life threatening consequences, some patients like psychiatric patients who don't have trust on health care providers refuses to take medication as well as feeds. Many of the patients suffering from STDs don't seek treatment.

• Lack of patient control:

​​​​​​​Who owns patient health data in Electronic health Records?

It should be addressed that who controls the modification, accessing, and sharing of Electronic data. In paper records control was a rare issue as the data was exchanged point to point, e.g., faxing data from one physician to another physician. For some sensitive medical information like psychotherapy and gynecological records, control is critical. So the initiative should be started that will enable patients to have control over their medical records.