| In today's world, consumers use secure internet | | | | health informatics to achieve this goal of improved |
| software to manage their finances, make | | | | patient care measures, safeguards must be |
| purchase transactions, register to personalized | | | | followed to avoid pitfalls of accidentally identifying |
| sites, and apply for online applications that contain | | | | patients. |
| personal data. As information technology has | | | | In another poll question, 68 percent of patients |
| invaded the healthcare sector, similar issues are | | | | felt it was top priority not to have employers |
| now present in regards to protection of privacy | | | | have access to their health information. It is |
| information. Overall, patient information has both | | | | surprising the figure is not higher, but regardless, |
| positive and negative benefits when being shared | | | | the majority sees this as a significant threat. This |
| over large networks. For medical research | | | | becomes even more important for health and life |
| perspectives and evidence-based care paradigms, | | | | insurance companies that regulate insurance |
| anonymous patient data can direct better quality | | | | premiums and allowables. While it may not be an |
| care. However keeping data anonymous is the | | | | accepted practice to alter these variables |
| challenge. From a negative perspective, access of | | | | according to disease specifics in individual patients, |
| this information by employers or insurance | | | | patients see this as a tremendous risk. This is |
| agencies could cause significant personal and public | | | | similar to protecting key financial information for |
| problems potentially. The ability to protect this | | | | consumers as both loss of finances and insurance |
| information is important. By eliminating the risks, | | | | protection affect deep feelings of security overall. |
| health informatics provides another tool for | | | | Compared to prior systems that were manually |
| enhancing medical quality. | | | | operated, information technology enhances the |
| The challenge for some health information | | | | ability to look at large sets of healthcare data. |
| technology systems has been converting patient | | | | Without this ability to effectively organize and |
| database collections into an anonymous format to | | | | store information and disseminate it to areas of |
| allow medical research to study epidemiological | | | | research and care decisions, manual abilities would |
| trends and treatment assessments. To what | | | | be tremendously handicapped in making the same |
| extent does data have to be made anonymous in | | | | strides in patient care. But with these benefits |
| order to ensure patient privacy? To an extreme | | | | comes precautions to first do no harm to the |
| this could render the data useless, but rarely is | | | | patient. What is advantageous for informatics is |
| this necessary. In a poll of patients, 81 percent | | | | the ability to apply safeguards in a uniform |
| felt the use of their health information in medical | | | | manner to allow protection of patient privacy. |
| research if kept anonymous would help their | | | | Solutions to provide data security are much |
| physicians render better care. With this level of | | | | simpler than in manual systems in general. |
| support, anonymity is the focus. | | | | While risks if information dissemination exists with |
| The same challenge now exists for healthcare | | | | electronic health information systems, solutions to |
| systems utilizing evidenced-based care. In order to | | | | control anonymity and maintain information |
| make proper assessments of patient outcomes | | | | security are readily available. Patient populations |
| with specific treatments, some factors are | | | | support these are important areas, and |
| required to define the optimal patterns of care. | | | | informatics experts have listened to these needs. |
| For example, identifying age and gender may be | | | | By providing necessary privacy protection, |
| crucial to whether a treatment is effective for a | | | | significant improvements in healthcare quality can |
| sub-population. However, if the data group is small, | | | | evolve more rapidly. By proceeding with |
| this information could reveal identifying | | | | appropriate concern, these benefits will be realized |
| characteristics eliminating anonymity. In using | | | | for everyone. |