Health information manager in a hospital setting - Case Study Example

Health Information Manager in a Hospital Setting The essay aims to address a two-fold objective to wit: (1) to put yourself in a position of a health manager; and (2) to deploy an electronic health record (EHR) system in the facility despite incompliance with federal laws and identification of ethical concerns.MEMORANDUMTo: Dr. Nayna Philipsen, Professor and DirectorFrom: ______________, HIM 402 StudentDate: _March 23, 2013_Re: Health Information Manager in Hospital SettingStatement of the Problem: Your facility has purchased an electronic health record (EHR) system.

Your facility has asked: 1. that we deploy the EHR system in the future despite incompliance with applicable federal privacy and security standards; 2. What ethical issues should we consider? and 3. How should we proceed and why?Response:1. Deploy the EHR system in the future despite incompliance with applicable federal and security standards.As I health manager, I find it hard to deploy the EHR system because of two conflicting forces, namely: technology and law. According to McWay (2010), the law that we have cannot go with the same pace as the advances made in technology (147) which would always make the implementation of EHR system so complicated.

The EHR system will make the delivery of care efficient, up to date, and accessible and will benefit both the patient and the institution. However, it is what is inside the EHR and its accessibility that are being protected by the federal regulations, accrediting and institutional standards, and professional guidelines. Therefore, as a health manager, I believe that it would be unethical to my profession and illegal to implement something in a rush that has not been approved or incompliance with applicable federal and security standards.

As a health manager, we have to study the different regulations and the EHR implementing guidelines of the institution before we proceed on the project.2. Identify the ethical issues that we should consider.According to Sittig & Singh (2011), a number of ethical issues are being linked to the adoption of EHR in the health care setting, among of which include: ownership of protected health information, potential for privacy breaches, and appropriateness of current methods to address these breaches (1044).

In general, we should consider the harm that it may cause the patients when information are leaked to unconcerned individuals. The main question to ask is, “Are we willing to take the risks of exposing our patients’ identities or health information for the sake of efficiency and accessibility”? or “Are we equipped enough with the right people, enough resources, and appropriate technology to protect their privacy and be inclined with federal laws”? Decisions cannot be made on a “click” of a finger; thus, requires thorough planning and careful evaluation that weigh out circumstances.3. Explain how we should proceed and why.

We cannot make law creation or amendments go with the same pace as technology but we can build an architectural or dual design in health care that would meet halfway. The EHR architectural approach present patient health record at a generic level to preserve the medical and legal integrity of the documents while the dual approach uses a Reference Model to refer to the generic data in a patient health record and an Archetype Model to translate or define the patterns present in the clinical data (Kalra, 2006, 137-138).

Just like Europe and Australia, we should proceed with these types of approaches in order to avoid breach of privacy and other consequences that may occur. In addition, Win, Susilo & Mu (2006) suggested health kiosks, use of smart cards, and use of personal identification pins in accessing information (313-314). In these methods, patients can be given control and liability of their health record and will not breach any federal institutional laws. In fact, these methods could increase the patient’s right to decide on their own.

On the side of the medical care givers, the legal constraint in case of confidentiality breach could be lessened as both the patient and the medical provider shared an equal liability in the preservation of data. ReferencesKalra, D. (2006). Electronic Health Records. Medical Informatics, 136-144.McWay, D. C. (2010). Legal and Ethical Aspects of Health Information Management. In McWay, D.C. (Third Eds.), Legal and Ethical Issues Central to Health Information Management (pp. 145-252). New York: Delmar, Cengage Learning.Sittig, D. F.

& Singh, H. (2011). Legal, Ethical, and Financial Dilemmas in Electronic Health Record Adoption and Use. American Academy of Pediatrics, 127(4), 1042-1047.Win, K., Susilo, W. & Mu, Y. (2006). Personal Health Record Systems and Their Security Protection. Journal of Medical System, 130(1), 309-315.