Paper on Technology in Healthcare: Advancements, Legal Implications, and Ethical Considerations

Introduction

Technology plays a vital role starting from our personal lives to every sector in the world today (Mettler, 2016). Healthcare is one of the most crucial industries, whereby technology plays a significant and essential role. This is because, through the use of technology, many lives can be saved around the world. Healthcare practitioners can continue establishing new ways to help improve service delivery through the use of technology. Information technology has significantly impacted healthcare, whereby the benefits have been enjoyed by both the health practitioners and the patients. With the increased application of medical technology in hospitals, healthcare givers can access any patient information through mobile devices in a short period. The current paper discusses the use of technology by healthcare givers in hospitals. Additionally, the paper will use a given scenario of me as a nurse to help understand the advantages, disadvantages, and consequences of misusing technology by a healthcare giver.

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HIPAA, Legal, and Regulatory Discussion

HIPPA Discussion

The security of patient data is the responsibility of the healthcare provider. The confidentiality of a patient to take a step and seek medical assistance depends on the trust that the patient gives the healthcare provider (Agbo, Mahmoud,& Eklund, 2019). Whether intentional or not, HIPAA violations can have a high cost for the healthcare provider.

Storage options for patient data are one way that technology impacts a medical practitioner's HIPAA compliance (Agbo et al., 2019). The need for storage usually varies as it depends on the type of data and the amount of data available. Healthcare organizations should consider using storage options that are much safer, for instance, on-premise options.

Network security is another way that technology has an impact on the compliance of HIPAA by healthcare providers. Network security usually comprises all methods of data transmission. Modes of data transmission may include emails, private networks, or even over the Internet.

Healthcare Regulations

Several laws have been designed to protect the privacy of American patients when they visit healthcare providers for treatment. The constitution guarantees American patients privacy. Healthcare providers also get expect to keep patient's information discreet. One of the healthcare regulations that touch on maintaining patient privacy by the healthcare provider is the Privacy Act of 1974 (Mettler, 2016). The Act gives citizens the right to k knowledge of the information that healthcare givers collect from them, while also allowing the patients to have access to copies of the data.

Legal Guidelines

The HITECH Act comprises the adoption of the use of technology by healthcare providers to improve data protection. The Act enabled healthcare providers to share patient information with them easily. If not for the Act, most of the healthcare givers could still be using paper records. Additionally, the Act came up with stricter penalties for healthcare givers who do not comply with HIPAA regulations.

Scenario Ending and Recommendations

The current paper’s scenario involves me as a nurse leaking important patient information to the public. In the scenario, I am responsible for posting patient data belonging to Chris Imprivata, an actor on social media. Several media outlets reached out to me to gather more information and a "quote" from me upon posting this. Additionally, they offered a $5000 reward for my cooperation in providing them with the information.

Actions Taken

Upon realizing my mistake, I had to take some action. One of the steps was to delete the post since I had discovered that I made a mistake out of mere excitement due to the patient's social status. Secondly, I made an official apology to the patient for exposing his medical records, which was lawfully wrong.

Mitigating the Circumstances

Despite the electronic method of preserving data being more straightforward than the historical process, patients prefer to keep to themselves information on their medical conditions. Such information may consist of the diagnoses, lab results, or even health problems. To mitigate the current circumstances, as a healthcare provider, I could have reviewed the terms surrounding electronic health records sharing, including their use, to add the individuals around to have access to them. Additionally, as a healthcare provider, I should have ensured that I gather sufficient knowledge of the rules and regulations that provide for patient's records privacy by their healthcare providers.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Advantages of Technology Use in Healthcare Provision

Information Availability. Data accessibility and storage are a result of the technological age. The use of the internet in the search and sharing features has improved data analysis and synthesis processes. Additionally, the use of technology in healthcare allows healthcare providers to quickly access large amounts of data for different people in a short period. Comparing different data from other patients enables identifying risk factors and recommendations of the right measures to offer preventive treatment.

Improved Communication. Innovations in technology have improved communication in organizations providing healthcare. Professionals in the medical field can communicate easily through video conferencing platforms, thus sharing ideas on how to improve healthcare. Additionally, electronic media records can be accessed by the relevant departments. The result of this is that there is an improvement in terms of managing cases, handling treatments, and assisting in the recovery of patients.

Technology Use Risks In Healthcare

Patient Records in the Cloud. In most facilities, the records of patients are usually kept in the cloud. Whereas the retrieval process becomes easier, the data is also susceptible to hacking (Gordon & Catalini, 2018). In case a hacker manages to get access to the patient records, they can harm the patient to whom the information belongs. For instance, the hacker can post the information online or even use the data to steal the identity of a patient.

Embedded Devices. Embedded devices have been introduced to many hospitals around the world (Mettler, 2016). The devices assist in communication between the patients and their healthcare providers. However, the devices are also susceptible to breaches.

Electronic sensors currently are estimated to be around two billion (Mettler, 2016). Furthermore, with time, the numbers are expected to become much higher. When connected to unsecured networks, the sensors become vulnerable. In the case that the employees in the healthcare sector are not aware of this on time, the data becomes an easy target for extraction and theft. Additionally, in the case that the devices get returned before data extraction, the thieves can introduce code to the device. Therefore, hackers will have access to information without the facility's knowledge.

Principles Guiding Technology Use by Healthcare Providers

Fidelity Principle. Fidelity can also be referred to as loyalty. It involves a special relationship that exists between healthcare providers and their patients. Each of the two owes allegiance to the other one (Gordon & Catalini, 2018). However, the most significant part of loyalty lies on the side of the provider. The healthcare provider should ensure that they earn the trust of the patient.

Additionally, in the part of fidelity, healthcare givers should ensure that they keep their word and ensure that they do not abuse the trust given to them by the patients. For instance, patients entrust healthcare providers with information about their health. The healthcare givers should, therefore, be loyal to their patients by not exposing them.

Conclusion

By completing this assignment, I learned some new information. One of the things I learned is that the government maintains the privacy of patients' records. Through the government's laws and regulations, health caregivers should be cautious when handling their patients’ data. The knowledge will impact my future behavior as a health practitioner since I will be careful that patients' information does not leak to the outside world.

References

Agbo, C. C., Mahmoud, Q. H., & Eklund, J. M. (2019, June). Blockchain technology in healthcare: a systematic review. In Healthcare (Vol. 7, No. 2, p. 56). Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute. https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/7/2/56

Gordon, W. J., & Catalini, C. (2018). Blockchain technology for healthcare: facilitating the transition to patient-driven interoperability. Computational and structural biotechnology journal, 16, 224-230. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S200103701830028X

Mettler, M. (2016, September). Blockchain technology in healthcare: The revolution starts here. In 2016 IEEE 18th international conference on e-health networking, applications, and services (Healthcom) (pp. 1-3). IEEE. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/7749510/