Health Information Exchange - Essay Example

Health Information Exchange Health information exchange is usually referred to as the process of electronically sharing health information consistently and interoperably, accomplished in an approach that safeguards the secrecy, privacy and safety of health information. There has been an increase in the spread of health information. The process of health information exchange is undertaken by the health information organizations (HIOs). For these HIOs to function, they must follow to the set national standards to ensure privacy and security of the information and only authorized access to them. Health information exchange came up as a result of failed attempts towards national health reforms, during the late 90s to early 2000s. In an effort to improve the nations competence in providing updated surveillance touching bioterrorism and being hands on in tackling United States ability to identify and deal with potential epidemics, President George Bush established the Office of National Co-coordinator of health information technology (ONCHIT). He also appointed Dr. David Brailer to spearhead this office. The efforts of its establishment lead to the public’s desire to advance vehemently the development and growth of health information technology, as a step in improving the quality while reducing the cost of health care being provided. Dr. Brailer instigated a number of programs, which aimed to accelerate health information technology and began developing a successful and well-organized National Health Information Network (NHIN). In 2005, an oversight committee was started by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which was named the American Health Information Community (AHIC). This committee awarded contracts to three groups namely: Healthcare Information Technology Standard Panel (HITSP), Certificate Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT) and the Health Information Security and Privacy Collaboration (HISPC). In the same year, four other groups of healthcare and health information technology were awarded contracts, to create prototypes for the National Health Information Network architecture. The four groups are to work together to ensure the information can move flawlessly between the four networks that will be developed and establishment of an infrastructure that will share the electronic health information. The specific sites that were selected for the implementation of the demo projects were MA health share, Indiana Health Information Exchange (IHIE), and the Mendocino Health Records Exchange (MHRE). Health Information management professionals are among the expert stakeholder needed to provide adequately health information exchange. Patient’s privacy, state and federal disclosure laws and data integrity concerns are parts of the health information management’s body of knowledge. This kind of information background enables these professionals to navigate hurdles in the exchange of health information. It also qualifies these health professionals in taking leadership roles when it comes to matters of health information exchange. AHIMA is an organization that has taken up the role of ensuring standards are properly set for health information exchange. Through the advancement of privacy and security policies concerning systems for accessing the health information exchange system, provisioning, permitting, and validating users, and auditing access, health information management professionals are able to connect with colleagues and stakeholders in defining functional business procedures in the assorted systems sharing health data. These processes are based on best-practice data quality ideologies and attribute that result in enhanced quality of care and patient safety. In the instance that these measures are put in place, benefits of health information exchange are being felt. These benefits include the following: availability of patient information in cases of emergency. Emergencies are unpredictable occurrences which may occur in any place at any time. With the provision of health information exchange, doctors or medical practitioners are able to access a patient’s medical history record and give the recommended medication and treatment depending on the patient. Health information exchange comes in handy in cases where patients may be affected by natural calamities such as floods and hurricanes. This enables their medical information to be stored in electronic formats accessible from any other location, other than their original point of entry. When medical personnel are able to access your medical history, they are able to have a picture of your health. This enables medical personnel to give you medication that will not react negatively with the medication you may be receiving. This reduces the cases of harm to a patient. When records are stored electronically, information can be accessed from any point that has the required connectivity. Health information exchange can help people to monitor when and where the information was accessed also what kind of medical information that has been accessed. It is also easier for governing laws and regulations to access electronic information, other than paper records. Health information exchange reduces duplication of medical procedures. Medical practitioners are able to see prior tests and scans that have been done, and they don’t necessarily have to repeat them. This will minimize the risks of radiation on a patient and one does not have to pay more for procedures that can be avoided. Exchange of health information enables a patient to get precise and timely treatment. This kind of exchange improves communication between hospitals and other medical premises. It may also enable doctors to give adequate treatment to cases that may seem complicated. Health information exchange enables medical practitioners to substitute drugs for patients when the need arises. In some cases, generic medication is used as a substitute for some medications. This information exchange helps to improve a patient’s services and satisfaction. It reduces medical errors that may occur, while improving a hospitals decision on procedures and medication that can be administered on a patient. Health information exchange boost continuity of medical care to a patient. In cases where a patient relocates from one location to another, exchange of their health information can allow their new doctor to continue with their prior medication or treatment. With as much as exchange of health information is important, there are risks that can be faced. Among these may be: identity theft. For records to be electronically stored, they may need to first be manually created. Once records are created and transfer from manual to electronic is taking place, someone may tamper with the records thus creating a false document. It is easier to breach electronic information, than it is to breach paper documents. Health information exchange is equipment that needs careful handling. It is still simple for a health care provider to enter incorrect information, but unless the information is corrected it will still be wrong. With the increase in use of information technology, the concept of hackers has also increased. Hackers are people who use their knowledge in information technology to access information which is considered private, without the right authorization. Hackers may access this information for different purposes. In the exchange of health information, certain concepts stand out. Privacy and security seem to be the main concerns, but measures have been put to ensure the information enjoys confidentiality. Honesty and transparency should be emphasized. Patients should be advised to give the correct information to the health care providers, who should also input the correct information. The information entered should also be precise to safeguard the patients. Security authentication is an aspect that has been developed. People who may wish to access this information will need to have the correct identification to allow them access to the information. This will mean that if a person does not have the right identification, he cannot access the systems. Having access according to the role medical practitioners in the health facility has been developed. This provision only allows people to access information according to the position and the part they play in the health facility. For junior staff, minimal information will be availed according to the identification they have. Senior staff on the other hand will have access to a lot of information about a patient. This is important as a measure to safeguard a patient’s medical information and create a privacy barrier for them. For medical practitioners to be able to share health information with other medical facilities, that have to be in compliance with the regulations that have been put in place by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). This will ensure that the record exchange is standardized and is freely available to different medical practitioners, with the standard availed provisions by HIPAA. Have regular monitoring to ensure that patients medical information and secured. Findings generated from the audits are able to provide transparency of information access. This is important so as to know which people’s medical records are highly accessed, to know the reasons for access and if there are any measures that can be taken to ensure a patient’s health is monitored. In line with a patient’s medical history and records, it is important that measures are put so as to ensure that patients will also give the correct information during their medical visits. A good example is when a patient may be suffering from a disease like HIV/ AIDS and under ARV medication. This patient will need to have privacy and security on his medical records, as they may not want to suffer the stigma that is associated with people who suffer from it. It is important to safeguard their information, because in some cases employees may retrench workers who are suffering from the ailment as they see them as a liability and they may also not want to settle any medical expenses that come in due to their condition. As these security and privacy measures are ensured, challenges have cropped up. These challenges prevent complete exchange of health information. Inaccessibility to fast electronic connection to records hinders quality exchange of health information. Most of these health information exchanges are accessed through the internet and in cases where the internet is low, medical practitioners cannot easily provide medical treatment to patients, if they cannot access their records. Lack of standard funding to enable set up of systems is a major challenge. Until recently, funding for these systems was minimal. This leads to inadequate supply of electronic data that could be widely used. Lack of qualified staffs to deal with the electronic data is also an issue. Most of the current medical personnel are not information technology savvy, thus they may not be well place to handle these records. They will therefore need to employ qualified people to undertake the tasks, but these people may also not be of high integrity as needed for the medical practitioners. It should therefore be considered that medical records are important and their security should be of high level. The measures that have been put in place should not be taken in so lightly as problems such as being sued to poor security measures may arise. References AHIMA and AMIA. (2008). Health Information Management and Informatics Core Competencies for Individuals Working with Electronic Health Records. American Health Information Management Association, Foundation of Research and Education. AHIMA e-HIM Work Group on Patient Identification in RHIOs. (2006). “Surveying the RHIO Landscape: A Description of Current RHIO Models with a Focus on Patient Identification.” Journal of AHIMA, 77 (1). Bordenick, J. C., McGraw, D., Williams, C., Rosati, K. B., & Posnack, S. (2008). Privacy and Confidentiality Issues Critical to Consumers. New York: Free Press. Healthcare Information Technology Standards Panel. (2008). Library of Interoperability Specifications and Constructs. Retrieved from, Healthcare Information Technology Standards Panel, http://www.hitsp.org/ Healthcare Information Technology Standards Panel. (2008). TN 900. http://www.commoncriteriaportal.org/theccra.html International Organization for Standardization, Technical Committee 215. (2006). ISO 27799 Health informatics Security management in health using ISO/IEC 17799. ISO/IEC 15408 Common Criteria for Information Technology Security Evaluation, Version 3.1. (2006). Read More