As emerging technologies advance, the use of consumer, mobile, and telehealth technologies are being adopted as a means of accessing patient care and obtaining health information. The use of telehealth services has become favored to connect with patients especially during the recent global pandemic. For example, telehealth services can be used to treat chronic medical conditions, according to the Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) “The severity and even the occurrence of chronic health conditions can often be mitigated by telehealth care services” (Health Resources & Services Administration [HRSA], 2022). Some ways telehealth can manage care along with access to health information is “by remote patient monitoring with devices such as glucometer or pulse oximeter, messaging can be seen through a secure patient portal, or remote orders and evaluation of diagnostic testing and bloodwork can be utilized” (HRSA, 2022). Some benefits of telehealth are patient engagement with care, access to care for rural or low-economic patients, increased convenience with patients who have mobility or pain issues, and lowered cost for travel or childcare (HRSA, 2022).
One ethical or legal issue regarding EHR (Electronic Health Record) impacting nursing practice is protecting patient data privacy and confidentiality via HIPPA regulations. Ensuring sensitive medical information is not accidentally viewed or sent out is essential in preventing any compromise in medical data. According to Nayyar (2020) most EMR contains patient data information and organizations must protect this by enabling security monitoring. There are five goals that an organization can focus their attention on when it comes to EHR in telehealth. First, remote access protocol- ensuring IT support can handle a multitude of requests and implementing the use of multi-factor authentication when logging on to a computer. Second, security training-implement security best practices such as strong passwords and awareness of phishing e-mail attacks. Third, critical app exposure- strict security is put in place when accessing information via apps. Fourth, use of personal devices- acknowledging a greater risk to the organization when allowing personal device use. Last, using monitoring and detection- being able to detect attacks on computer systems.
One measure that can be implemented in my practice is to protect patient privacy and confidentiality is to avoid copying and pasting medical information from one page to another. According to Sweeney (2019), one best practice is to avoid doing this simple function, it poses a dangerous threat to EHR. “Copying and pasting on a chart can propagate incorrect or outdated information. We want physicians to be extremely careful with copying and pasting. It is often better to type it in yourself to make sure it is the most recent and correct information” (Sweeney, 2019).
References:
Health Resources & Services Administration. (2022). Telehealth for chronic conditions. Health Resources & Services Information.
Nayyar, S. (2020). 5 critical considerations for patient privacy in telehealth. HIT Consultant Media.
Sweeney, J. F. (2019). EHR risks: protect yourself from technology-related legal danger. Medical Economics, 96(13).
