Technology Alone Won’t Solve E-Health Privacy Challenges

The use of electronic health records by hospitals and doctors is endorsed by most experts, “but it will take a feat of policy, technology and education to ensure your records don’t get into the wrong hands,”. Dr. David Brailer, President Bush’s health information technology coordinator, and IBM executive Sean Hogan have some suggestions:

- “Right now, hospitals assume the liability, but the model has to shift to one where the patient controls the data and whether it is put online,” Brailer said.
- “HIPAA is yesterday’s solution,” he added, referring to the existing laws that protect medical privacy. “It was set up to protect privacy in a paper world, not for one that’s electronic and streaming… It’s a big regulatory gap.”
- The current system for processing information is “incredibly convoluted and information is very exposed due to a lack of good processes,” Hogan said. “Solid” physician training to reduce that exposure could be a short-term solution until new laws and policies begin doing some of the heavy lifting.

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