Question

I need help addressing What privacy and security issues are hindering the adoption of EMR systems and which one should be addressed first?

Answer 1

The goal of protecting patient information privacy often conflicts with the goal of providing improved healthcare that EMRs can support. Provisions in HIPAA provide some confidentiality protection, but not enough. Potential for a major privacy breach lies in the system of primary or secondary users

System breaches and accountability for negligence are some privacy and security issues that are hindering the adoption of EMR systems within healthcare. Patients and physicians are concerned that with the growing use of EMRs, internet hackers may be able to attack the system and have access to patient’s medical records, which can lead to violating HIPAA

The big concerns regarding the adoption of EMR are data breaches and the fear of having personal information stolen. Since EMRs “bundle a lot of important information in one place, hackers have access to personal identification information, insurance information, lab results” (Policy and Medicine, 2014), and other private and probable data that could be profitable. In August of 2014, the FBI alerted healthcare organizations that hackers were targeting them. This was after Community Health Systems (CHS), a hospital chain established in Tennessee was targeted by hackers who were said to be so intelligent they were able to get passed CHS’s security. It was the second biggest HIPPA breach and “largest hacking-related HIPAA data breach ever reported” (Policy and Medicine, 2014). These types of breaches are more than a financial risk. Insurance companies could receive false bills, medical records could be altered