PHRs Go Overseas

Cheryl McEvoy — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:26:00 GMT

If you've been following Jay's blog, " XY Files in and MT World ," recently, you know there have been some frightening reports of medical records being sold overseas. It's enough to make you hunker down in the States and demand your records stay local....(read more)

Can You Belize It?

Cheryl McEvoy — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 13:09:00 GMT

The industry has been touting EHR incentives in the stimulus plan as the way to put health care back on track. But let's be honest, the electronic remedy is going to be a tough pill to swallow. Privacy concerns abound, budgets are stretching thin and...(read more)

It's a Small World After All

Cheryl McEvoy — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 14:53:00 GMT

In this week’s issue of ADVANCE, we took a peek at HIT progress in other countries with “EHR Around the World.” A number of nations have taken serious steps to adopt national EHR systems, and while the U.S. is building momentum on an individual level, it’s far from launching a centralized and interoperable system.

But the enviable progress being made across the pond isn’t all sunshine and data bliss. Just like in the U.S., privacy concerns, security breaches and authorization issues are making some citizens question whether border-to-border EHR is the way to go.

In the United Kingdom, NHS is looking to put patient records in a repository pronto, but citizens aren’t thrilled about having their medical information housed in a central area for physicians, researchers and—potentially—hackers to see. As luck (or poor security protocols) would have it, the news in Scotland is abuzz about privacy violations involving, well, news reporters. According to the BBC, seven journalists recently learned that their medical records may have been inappropriately accessed by a doctor. And where were the records held? In a new central database—not the NHS central repository, but a digital reserve, nonetheless. Breach of privacy isn’t a new concern (I’m sure a few Scots have been tracking the UCLA/Britney debacle), but it’s heightening patients’ security radars.

In the Netherlands, a national EHR database may be up and running when the clock strikes 12 on New Year’s Day. According to this article, though, 15,000 people have already opted out of the open-access system. Hesitations revolve around data security: Who gets to see the record? Can the system be hacked? Who’s to blame if private information is compromised? Those who opt out will still have their records held in the repository, but anyone looking to access files must get thumbs up from the patient first. The approval clause offers a compromise, but patients will have to hope medical information floating in cyberspace can still be kept under lock and key.

So surprise, surprise: global EHR doesn’t fall far from the apples to oranges adage. Our health systems may be at different stages of developing EHR, but everyday patients share the same concerns. Ah yes, that creepy invasion of privacy feeling seems to be an innate human instinct that binds us all.

ADVANCE Perspective: HIM : global health care

PHRs Go Overseas

Can You Belize It?

It's a Small World After All