Hippa and Information Technology Essay

In this checkpoint I will be discussing certain questions that involve HIPPA and information technology. With technology growing every single day, there are questions that are always involved when dealing with medical record issues. One question would be what advantages could a standardized medical records database offer? What HIPPA issues could arise? And why do you believe technology in the medical records management industry is so far behind other industries? These are the questions I will be answering in this checkpoint. I will start off by talking about the advantages a medical records database could offer. The main advantage of a standardized medical records database would be the convenience. To be able to locate a file with the push of a button would make work for the staff a lot faster. With paper documents it could take hours for another physician or hospital to obtain the information they would need. Another advantage would be the time it would take for a person to travel to and from their physician office to obtain their records for another facility. What HIPPA issues could arise? The main issue when dealing with medical records being online would be their patient’s information staying safe. In these days too many people are able to access sites and databases that should be secure. With people being able to hack and steal identities, this is a major problem when it comes to HIPPA issues. Another issue that could arise would be a patient not signing the forms to allow information to be posted. If a patient does not sign their name, their information should not be put online or given to any other individual. Who do you believe technology in the medical records management industry is so far behind other industries? I believe that the medical record management industry is behind others is because of security. The information that this industry deals with is very sensitive and should be protected at all costs. There are several laws that are in place to insure the protection of the patients and if any of their information were to be leaked, the facility would be in a position for legal action.