Benefits and Risks of
HIT and HIE
Health Information Exchange and Health
Information Technology are tools that health care providers
and consumers can use to improve health care. As in
any other industry, the ability to exchange information
electronically comes with benefits and risks. Here are
some benefits and risks for you to consider.
Benefits
Available in Emergency:
If you are in an accident and are unable to explain your
health history to a health care provider, they can find
the information about your medications, health issues,
and tests and make informed decisions about your emergency
care faster.
Protected in Disasters: If you are in
an area affected by a disaster, like Hurricane Katrina,
your health information can be stored safely in electronic
form.
Improved Care/Reduced Medical Errors: Access
to information about care you receive elsewhere gives
your health care provider a better, more complete picture
of your health. That means your health care provider can
make sure the care he or she provides doesn’t interact
badly with other treatment you may be receiving. For example,
when you can’t remember what medications you are
taking, health information exchange can make information
about your conditions and medications available to your
health care provider so that they will know the right
things to do instead of doing something that might be
harmful.
Tracking for Protection: When your health information
is shared electronically, information about access to
your record is stored electronically. This can include
the identity of those who accessed your record, the date
of access, the types of information accessed and the reason
your record was accessed. This makes it easier to enforce
laws and regulations governing access when using electronic
records than it is with paper records.
Increased Safety/Reduced Duplication: Because
health care providers can see what tests you have had
and the results, they don’t always have to repeat
them. Especially with x-rays and certain lab tests, this
means you are at less risk from radiation and other side
effects. It also means you pay less for your health care
in copayments and deductibles when tests aren’t
repeated.
Risks
Identity Theft: Although
health information benefits from all the security measures
developed in other economic sectors such as defense and
finance, it bears the same risks these other sectors have
experienced. Identity theft occurs with both paper files
and electronic files, but a breach of electronic files
may affect more records than a breach of paper files.
Errors: Health Information Exchange is
a tool to improve care. Just like a paper health record,
if the health care provider does not enter the correct
information, that information remains in the health record
until it is corrected. However, electronic information
can provide checks and balances that paper health records
cannot.
Hackers: As long as information technology has
existed, there have been efforts to try and break into
records of all kinds. Electronic health care information
benefits from the security measure developed by other
industries. being the last frontier of information technology,
so anti-hacking security measures from other economic
sectors are already used. However, hackers will continue
to try to break security codes just like they do in other
electronic systems.
There are Benefits and Risks associated with Health Information
Technology and Health Information Exchange. Ask your health
care providers if they use Health Information Technology
or participate in Health Information Exchange. If you
have questions, make sure that you have a conversation
about how your doctor protects your health data.
©
The University of Kansas Medical Center