Indecent Exposure

How do you feel about the security of your data in your Personal Health Record?


I heard a someone comment today on doctors dictating their work while performing an operation so they don't have to take notes later. The only problem is when the doctor says "the patient suffers from a contextual contusion" and it becomes "the patient suffers from sexual confusion." This comment goes into your Personal Health Record and someday you have to explain to an employer's insurer looking for pre-conditions or the Government Agency that is considering you for a Presidential appointment, you really had a hematoma and not an identify crisis.


When it ended its service, Revolution Health said that it will destroy all PHRs on file. If a patient has watched the television criminal dramas, NCIS or Law and Order, believing that electronic records are fully expunged is akin to believing that the Tooth Fairy aids good oral hygiene.


Credibility and security is crucial. One small, apparent success is the partnership between Google Health and the Cleveland Clinic. Doctors input patient data into PHRs that patients can import into their own secure Google Health account. Ideally, if patients move away from the Cleveland Clinic, they could take their health records with them. The issue of standardization for Health Care IT (HCIT) still remains. Like the infamous technical VHS vs. Betamax or more recent Blue-Ray vs. HD-DVD wars, aligning on a technical standard must Darwiningly happen.


For anyone interested, the opportunities for HCIT implementation are ensuring patient engagement, developing easy, time-saving but robust graphical user interfaces, and providing a common secure technical platform.