I was listening to public radio cruising north on 59 toward LBJ when I heard Dean Sittig discussing a new study on privacy in electronic health data. A study by PriceWaterhouse Coopers suggests that privacy standards are not keeping pace with access to health care information. Health care workers are gaining increased access to protected health information (PHI) on mobile devices at the risk of these devices not having sufficient privacy standards to prevent security breaches.
This was fascinating to me because Memorial Hermann just released Care4 access to iphone and ipad users. Is this access necessary and reasonable to allow doctors to treat their patients appropriately and effectively? To be sure, handheld electronic devices are commonplace among physicians, residents, and students alike. I have been using my ipod touch (because I refuse to pay the outrageous data fee for any smartphone) consistently to look up dosages on epocrates. Similarly, one of my residents rarely uses paper for rounds, but rather his ipad for access to Epic. Would it be more convenient for me to look up a patient’s recent BMP while walking without having to sit down and log into a computer? Probably, but I’m unsure whether the benefits outweigh the risks.
The trouble with the study is that it doesn’t seem to offer any answers, similar to much of the research done so far in electronic health records. I’m left with an uncanny feeling of uncertainty about current policy regarding handheld devices and access to PHI.
You can listen to Dean Sittig’s 1 minute NPR clip right here.
http://app1.kuhf.org/articles/1316724294-Study-Suggests-Healthcare-Industry-Falling-Short-In-Protecting-Digital-Records.html
