ethical issues in health record

Surname 3

Term Paper Proposal

Student name: Saud Alruwaili Student ID: 140068061 CRN: 22138

Ethical issues in medical records

Record administration in health is concerned with the making, development, using and maintaining medical related details for treatment, reference, administrative and for professional or educative purposes. The practice of record keeping in medicine is responsibility and trust delegated by medical or health services. In order to merit and protect this trust given, medical record professions are responsible to define the guidelines that govern the professional conduct of the practitioners. The code of ethics has been adopted to take care of this (Fouzia et al., 2015).

In the modern society, electronic health record is continuously being implemented in several developing countries. This mode of record keeping improves the quality of healthcare and medication provided while at the same time keeping watch of the costs health organizations spends (Pozgar, 2014). This method is however of concerns since technology harbors the inherent ability of producing hazard therefore the safety of information in the system could be compromised. In the recent years there have been reports of security breaches which make the system questionable.

The code of conduct for health professionals in this category demands that they place service as the priority before any material gain is considered and the professional honor becomes a personal advantage. This means that the health of the patient is, put at the lead before any financial interests. Additionally, they preserve and protect medical records in custody of the personal information of the patients. Any breach of these amounts to violation of the code which is in itself unethical (Pozgar, 2014).

At the center of ethics is health record keeping lies, privacy. This means that the health information of a patient should not be shared to others whatsoever. Electronic record system has posed threats in terms of the privacy of a patient. Such challenges include the design and functionality of the system that allows patients to have only the relevant information released to reliable parties.

Another ethical issue of concern is the data security where the personal health records are sensitively recorded. In the mobile device and related categories, it is a challenge to guarantee data security. This compromises storage of health data (Pozgar, 2014). The decision support: Most personal health applications provide a form of feedback and decisions are made on the basis of inputs of the patients. The legal and regulatory environment poses a challenge to the proper implementation of ethical guidelines.

In conclusion, this proposal notes the samples of ethical issues in medical record keeping. It talks of confidentiality, privacy and security. Since managing an electronic system of health record data has posed a challenge in terms of ethical considerations and the quality of health care given. Despite the advantages that come with electronic and modern system of keeping data, the related concerns like confidentiality and privacy must be put into consideration. This means that the related authorities need to reshape the system to improve it procedures on confidentiality (Fouzia et al., 2015).

All the stakeholders in the health record system including clinicians, researchers and administrators all have the responsibility to safeguard health information. Patients also have a right to the privacy of their health information and they expect that this information is held in trust for them by the health record officers. We also need to appreciate the role of technology in record keeping. The available loopholes should be sealed by whatever means possible (Fouzia et al., 2015).

For a sustainable future management of healthcare, it is demanded that the risks associated with technology be properly managed. In doing so, the multiple strategies must be adopted. Flexibility, teamwork, leadership and maturity must be demonstrated by all stakeholders alike.

Reference

Ozair, Fouzia F., et al. "Ethical issues in electronic health records: A general overview." Perspectives in clinical research 6.2 (2015): 73.

Pozgar, George D. Legal and ethical issues for health professionals. Jones & Bartlett Publishers, 2014.