This week I started a new course in nursing school called Nursing Informatics. I honestly had been dreading this course for weeks because learning about computers is often very boring to me since I have grown up with technology all around me. From second grade on through the rest of my schooling I have had computer classes so when college level technology courses have come up I always feel that I am slightly above the curve when it comes to technology knowledge.
I have been pleasantly suprised in the first week of Nursing Informatics; I have learned so much! This course is truly on trend with where technology fits into our everyday lives personally and professionally. I started a Twitter account several months ago, however I never was really drawn to the social networking site since I am invested mainly in the use of Facebook. I saw the Twitter networking site to be redundant, however Nursing Informatics has changed my mind. With Facebook I just have friends that I went to grade school, high school and work with, whereas a whole new option in networking has been brought to Twitter. I was oblivious to the fact that via Twitter there were groups of nurses and other like-minded or interested people that could discuss ideas and new research!
During this first week of the course we have been talking about Clinical Information Systems, which was a term that I was totally unaware of until now. As definied by our book
A clinical information system (CIS) is a technology based system that is applied at the point of care and is designed to support to acquisition and processing of information as well as providing storage and processing capabilities
As an employee at a local Hospital I have become more familiar with CIS and the electronic health record. A questions that was posed by my instructor in Nursing Informatics was “Who does the electronic health record belong to?”, but she is not the only person who has brought this question to my attention. At our staff meeting a few months ago it was brought up that a patient that we were caring for felt that the electronic health record was infringing on her privacy.
So, I asked myself, “Who does the EHR REALLY belong to?”. I’ve always seen my health history and information as something that I own, for if it wasn’t for me there would not be that written history to possess. Yet, I have never viewed this information in it’s entirety as it is displayed electronically or by paper. As employees we cannot view any patient’s records without cause, nor can we view our own information. But why is it that we cannot view our own information, since it is indeed OUR health history and information?
The question of who owns the EHR may be more in the forefront now, however who owned the paper chart when that was our way of charting and organizing the information? The charts in the units I was a part of prior to the switch to EHR were always kept at the nurses station, therefore even then was the information truly that of the patient’s, or was it property of the hospital?
As much as I would like to think that one’s own health record was their own, it seems more as if the EHR is the property of the health system. As I’ve been writing this entry, I was reminded of a news report I saw on KY3 just a few days ago regarding health records. The article can be viewed at: http://www.ky3.com/news/local/86329142.html
The article discusses how CMH in Bolivar is giving access to patient’s heath records through GoogleHealth. This new advancement in technology allows patient’s to have a centralized location that they can access themselves which houses all of their health information from CMH, and with continued use of the service, may have the capability of other health care systems adding their information to the net. With this article in mind, it would again bring me to the conclusion that the patient does not own their information, it is that of the health system and they are just being allowed to view it.
I’m looking forward to sharing more of my ideas and information that I have come across throughout this course. I can only hope that all of you out there on the net are that excited to hear my ideas as well!
McGonigle, Dee, & Mastrian, Kathleen. (2008). Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge. Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
