How Is Technology Used In Healthcare

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In the modern healthcare industry of today technology plays a huge role for all parties involved whether it is the Physician accessing a patient’s X-ray while out of the office to make a diagnosis or a patient viewing his medical records from home. Both of these require the use of technology to view the sensitive information. Innovations in Technology have changed the way we provide healthcare to patients all across the world. Portable devices are now used by patients to access their medical records and by physicians to monitor patients’ progress. Handheld devices are used to scan medications and a patient’s wristband to confirm the patient identity and verify the medication assigned to the patient. Prescriptions are now sent directly to the …show more content…

The people who had access to this information were the physicians in the medical office and his/her staff. With electronic health records it provides a centralized system for access to all types of patient files. If an attacker gains access to a patient’s digital file he gains access to all aspects of the patient’s medical information. Mobile Healthcare: Mobile healthcare is the ability to send, receive and access information on the go through the use of mobile technology like smartphones and tablets. This technology tool in healthcare poses a risk because personal items like smartphones and tablets are particularly small devices that can be easily stolen or lost. If the device does not meet basic security requirements patient data can be stolen. Portal Technology: Portal technology is the ability for patients to access their medical records online. Although this healthcare technology tool allows for the patient to be more involved in their healthcare process; the security risk it poses may sometimes be greater than the convenience being offered to the patient. The tool does not guarantee that the system being used to access this secure portal has not been compromised by viruses or malware, which attackers can use to exploit your system and gain access to medical …show more content…

These standards and policies put in place and enforced by the government are known as the HIPAA act. These standards provide a protocol for ensuring privacy and security of electronic health records. The HIPAA requirements are as followed: The security of electronic health records rules apply to all healthcare providers. There must be a secure floor and area set a side specifically for protecting the electronic health information. An example would be a secure data center. There must be a limit on how medical providers can create or receive electronic health information. Individuals must be given specific permissions to access electronic health records to check and see if there information is accurate and has not been compromised. If these rules are not followed the medical provider will incur penalties from the government. Electronic health records combine the need to keep patient health information secure, while utilizing the current advances in healthcare technology to do

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