Assignment Safeguarding EHR Systems
Assignment: Safeguarding EHR Systems
With the increase of health information technology used to store and access patient information, the likelihood of security breaches has also risen. In fact, according to the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ):
In the United States, there was a whopping 97% increase in the number of health records breached from 2010 to 2011… The number of patient records accessed in each breach has also increased substantially, from 26,968 (in 2010) to 49,394 (in 2011). Since August 2009, when the US government regulated that any breach affecting more than 500 patients be publicly disclosed, a total of 385 breaches, involving more than 19 million records, have been reported to the Department of Health and Human Services.
A large portion of those breaches, 39%, occurred because of a lost, stolen, or otherwise compromised portable electronic device—a problem that will likely only get worse as iPads, smartphones, and other gadgets become more common in hospitals. (CMAJ, 2012, p. E215).
Consider your own experiences. Does your organization use portable electronic devices? What safeguards are in place to ensure the security of data and patient information? For this Discussion you consider ethical and security issues surrounding the protection of digital health information.
To prepare for Safeguarding EHR Systems Assignment
· Review the Learning Resources dealing with the security of digital health care information. Reflect on your own organization or one with which you are familiar, and think about how health information stored electronically is protected.
· Consider the nurse’s responsibility to ensure the protection of patient information. What strategies can you use?
· Reflect on ethical issues that are likely to arise with the increased access to newer, smaller, and more powerful technology tools.
· Consider strategies that can be implemented to ensure that the use of HIT contributes to an overall culture of safety.
Safeguarding EHR Systems Assignment Required Readings
McGonigle, D., & Mastrian, K. G. (2015). Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge (3rd ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones and Bartlett Learning.
- Chapter 5, “Ethical Applications of Informatics”
This chapter examines the ethical dilemmas that arise in nursing informatics. The authors explore the responsibilities for the ethical use of health information technology.
- Review Chapter 23 “Research: Data Collection, Processing, and Analytics” (pp. 415–416)
In this section, the author explains information fair use and copyright restrictions. The section describes processes for ensuring the security of a computer network.
Brown, B. (2009a). Improving the privacy and security of personal health records.
Assignment Safeguarding EHR Systems
Journal of Health Care Compliance, 11(2), 39–40, 68.
The author of this article examines the use of the document titled “Nationwide Privacy and Security Framework for Electronic Exchange of Individually Identified Health Information.” The article describes how the framework aims to construct an approach to address the privacy and security challenges that come with health information exchanges and personal health records.
Dimitropoulos, L., Patel, V., Scheffler, S. A., & Posnack, S. (2011). Public attitudes toward health information exchange: Perceived benefits and concerns.
American Journal of Managed Care, 17, SP111–SP116.
This article describes a study that sought to determine the attitude of consumers toward electronic health information exchanges (HIE), HIE privacy and security concerns, and the relationship between these concerns and the perceived benefits of HIE. The authors recommend solutions to some of the privacy challenges stimulated by HIE.
Goodman, K. W. (2010). Ethics, information technology, and public health: New challenges for the clinician-patient relationship. Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 38(1), 58–63.
In this article, the authors focus on how nurses can use health information technology to help transform health care using the recommendations included in the 2010 Institute of Medicine report “The Future of Nursing, Leading Change, Advancing Health.” The author also discusses the 2011 National Strategy for Quality Improvement in Health Care.
Hoffman, S., & Podgurski, A. (2011). Meaningful use and certification of health information technology: What about safety? Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 39(3), 425–436.
This article stresses the necessity of sufficient safeguards for EHR systems. The author explores current safety regulations for EHR system design and deployment. The author makes additional recommendations for protecting public health in the digital area.
Rothstein, M. A. (2010). The Hippocratic bargain and health information technology. Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 38(1), 7–13.
The increasing availability of sensitive patient information granted by electronic health records has generated significant debate about patient privacy. This article examines the potential ethical and legal consequences of patient-directed sequestering of sensitive health information.
Optional Resources
Brown, B. (2009b). Privacy provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Journal of Health Care Compliance, 11(3), 37–38, 72–73.
Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.
Important information for writing discussion questions and participation
Hi Class,
Please read through the following information on writing a Discussion question response and participation posts.
Contact me if you have any questions.
Important information on Writing a Discussion Question
- Your response needs to be a minimum of 150 words (not including your list of references)
- There needs to be at least TWO references with ONE being a peer reviewed professional journal article.
- Include in-text citations in your response
- Do not include quotes—instead summarize and paraphrase the information
- Follow APA-7th edition
- Points will be deducted if the above is not followed
Participation –replies to your classmates or instructor
- A minimum of 6 responses per week, on at least 3 days of the week.
- Each response needs at least ONE reference with citations—best if it is a peer reviewed journal article
- Each response needs to be at least 75 words in length (does not include your list of references)
- Responses need to be substantive by bringing information to the discussion or further enhance the discussion. Responses of “I agree” or “great post” does not count for the word count.
- Follow APA 7th edition
- Points will be deducted if the above is not followed
- Remember to use and follow APA-7th edition for all weekly assignments, discussion questions, and participation points.
- Here are some helpful links
- Student paper example
- Citing Sources
- The Writing Center is a great resource
Welcome to class
Hello class and welcome to the class and I will be your instructor for this course. This is a -week course and requires a lot of time commitment, organization, and a high level of dedication. Please use the class syllabus to guide you through all the assignments required for the course. I have also attached the classroom policies to this announcement to know your expectations for this course. Please review this document carefully and ask me any questions if you do. You could email me at any time or send me a message via the “message” icon in halo if you need to contact me. I check my email regularly, so you should get a response within 24 hours. If you have not heard from me within 24 hours and need to contact me urgently, please send a follow up text to.
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Plagiarism is highly prohibited. Please ensure you are citing your sources correctly using APA 7th edition. All assignments including discussion posts should be formatted in APA with the appropriate spacing, font, margin, and indents. Any papers not well formatted would be returned back to you, hence, I advise you review APA formatting style. I have attached a sample paper in APA format and will also post sample discussion responses in subsequent announcements.
Your initial discussion post should be a minimum of 200 words and response posts should be a minimum of 150 words. Be advised that I grade based on quality and not necessarily the number of words you post. A minimum of TWO references should be used for your initial post. For your response post, you do not need references as personal experiences would count as response posts. If you however cite anything from the literature for your response post, it is required that you cite your reference. You should include a minimum of THREE references for papers in this course. Please note that references should be no more than 5 years old except recommended as a resource for the class. Furthermore, for each discussion board question, you need ONE initial substantive response and TWO substantive responses to either your classmates or your instructor for a total of THREE responses. There are TWO discussion questions each week, hence, you need a total minimum of SIX discussion posts for each week. I usually post a discussion question each week. You could also respond to these as it would count towards your required SIX discussion posts for the week.
I understand this is a lot of information to cover in 5 weeks, however, the Bible says in Philippians 4:13 that we can do all things through Christ that strengthens us. Even in times like this, we are encouraged by God’s word that we have that ability in us to succeed with His strength. I pray that each and every one of you receives strength for this course and life generally as we navigate through this pandemic that is shaking our world today. Relax and enjoy the course!
