A Smoking Idea...and One Not-So-Hot
I’ve heard complaints about doctors who don’t take their own advice. You know, the ones who pause in the middle of explaining the benefits of exercise to hack up a lung or hike their pants up over their guts? Well, HIM professionals are just as immersed in health care, whether a tumor registrar tracking a lung cancer patient’s treatment or an MT transcribing an emphysema diagnosis. The risks are out there, but it’s up to you to take action.
While it’s a personal preference and right whether or not you light up, the American Cancer Society is helping those looking to quit. Today marks the 33rd annual Great American Smokeout, a day that invites all smokers to give their lighters a rest. According to the American Cancer Society, 44.2 percent of smokers tried to quit for at least one day last year. For those looking to take a permanent break, the society is offering a number of supportive resources, including the Quitline, a free, confidential counseling hotline.
If you’d like to find out more about the Great American Smokeout, check out the American Cancer Society’s Web site at www.cancer.org.
In other news, I found out about a new product on the market called My Medical Memory, which allows consumers to carry around medical information on a flash drive. For a fee, the company can transfer your medical records onto the flash drive, which you can then tote about town--or straight to a hospital--on a keychain or around your neck. When seeking medical care, simply fork over the device and the doctor can load your personal health information using any USB port. Allergies? OK. Prescriptions? Got ‘em.
The product sounds convenient, and perhaps even lifesaving in an emergency. But at the same time, I have to question the security risk that comes with such easy access to medical data. Privacy breaches abound, even when data is encrypted, so what will come of our medical information if the flash drive winds up in the wrong hands?
The company claims mobile data means providers no longer need to worry about treating patients who can’t remember their medical histories; the device does all the talking for them. But couldn’t these forgetful patients also misplace their flash drives during a bout of absent-mindedness? Let’s be honest--those things are tiny.
While writing my college thesis, I had my fair share of panic digging through my laptop case to find the coveted flash drive, so putting my medical records on a similar storage device seems like a big no-no, especially without password protection or data encryption. But what’s the consensus among HIM professionals? A convenient tool or a security nightmare? Feel free to weigh in!