Electronic Patient Evidence Health Outcomes -Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss About The Electronic Patient Evidence Health Outcomes? Answer: Introduction A patient's medical record normally consists of a legal document that records decisions and events for helping the health practitioner to manage the patient care. The medical record may also act as evidence for applying any tort law against any clinical mal practice; hence it is important to preserve the medical records of patients[1]. Furthermore it is mandatory for the health care professionals not to disclose the health care information of a patient to anyone. This report focuses on the various laws and the acts in India supporting the maintenance of the medical record confidentiality. Objectives To understand the importance of medical records Medical records are central to the health care activities of the patient and they also form a part of the ethical and statutory duty of the doctor for providing a patient care. Medical records can also act as the sole evidence against any fowl play and hence should be preserved with utmost safety1. Medical records are useful documents that explain every detail about the patient's history, diagnostic test results, clinical findings, pre and post operative care, patient's medications and heath status. It is one of the most important evidence on the basis of which almost all medico-legal battle can be fought[2]. It is recommended that more efforts should be made for the institutional management and the preservation of the clinical evidence. There are certain objectives of maintaining the medical records such as monitoring of the actual patient, taking care while altering of the medical records, people are accessing to the medical records and proper release of the records2. To understand the legal boundaries The concept of informed consent in medical field is still alien to many medical practitioners and researchers and to the Indian population. In India the therapeutic relationship between the doctor and the patient is mainly governed by trust and the doctor is considered as the ultimate authority. The Indian penal code is almost indifferent about the legal validity of the consent given by people between 12 and 18 years of age[3]. 'The Right to Information Act' can be viewed as a crucial and historic development in the democracy of India. The act gives right to the citizen of India to inspect any medical records or documents held by the public authorities[4]. This provision has raised an ethical dilemma among the doctors whether to conceal or disclose the medical records to the patient. It has to be noted that not complying with the laws would evoke penalty. All the registered health care practitioners in India are bound to the codes of ethics4. According to the RTI Act, section 8.1, there are certain conditions that have been exempted from the disclosure, if it endangers the life of a certain person or if the disclosure will affect any ongoing prosecution or investigation 4. According to the section 2.2 of the RTI act, a physician must respect the confidentiality of the patient and should until requested by any law 4. High administrative costs for data processing have led to the increase of the outsourcing of the information of the patient, in order to reduce the costs. Cross border flow of the information can lead to disclosure of the patient's information[5]. The government has enacted the Information Technology (Reasonable security Practices and procedures and sensitive Personal Data or Information) Rules, 2011 (IT rules)5. These have to some extent strengthened the data protection law in India. Contrary to the strong rules about disclosure in US and UK, the Supreme Court has chosen to follow the cases by case approach for the interpretation of the privacy rules[6]. Although in most of the cases the hospital chooses to maintain the confidentiality of the patient information, there had been cases where the hospital has been allowed by the court to disclose the HIV status of the patient to his future spouse3. The reason for these types of disclosure has been the public welfare argument, in order to stop the spreading of the disease. To determine the value of the medical records as the evidence Medical records of a patient contains numerous information acquired from various sources, such as the patients clinical history, symptoms , pains, ongoing medications, treatment regimen applied1. It acts as a single most evidence for the clinical practitioners in lawsuits, inquests or hearings. The medical records can act as relevant information against any medical malpractice or an ordinary negligent action. Any tort law can be applied in the basis of these medical records. Medical records can be presented as any evidence to support or defeat a person's claim2. It has also been found that medical records can act as evidence for claims against any professional ethics breaches or billing frauds6. Conclusion The codes of ethics by the Medical Council of India have compelled the doctors to maintain the confidentiality and the electronic preservation of the health care records1. Despite of the IT rules, there are several loops and gaps still to be addressed. The Medical council has also mandated that patients information should not be disclosed by any health care professionals unless compelled by law or for the welfare of the public. References "Medical Council Of India."Mciindia.Org, 2018, https://www.mciindia.org/ActivitiWebClient/rulesnregulations/codeofMedicalEthicsRegulations2002. "Right To Information."Rti.Gov.In, 2018, https://rti.gov.in/. "Rules For Information Technology Act 2000 | Ministry Of Electronics And Information Technology, Government Of India."Meity.Gov.In, 2018, https://meity.gov.in/content/rules-information-technology-act-2000. "The Medical And Health Sector - Data Protection ...." https://www.dataprotection.ie/docs/The-Medical-and-Health-Sector/m/245.htm. Davis Giardina, Traber, et al. "Patient access to medical records and healthcare outcomes: a systematic review." Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association 21.4 (2013): 737-741. Goldzweig, Caroline Lubick, et al. "Electronic patient portals: evidence on health outcomes, satisfaction, efficiency, and attitudes: a systematic review."Annals of internal medicine159.10 (2013): 677-687. Grace, Jamie, and Mark J. Taylor. "Disclosure of confidential patient information and the duty to consult: The role of the health and social care information centre."Medical law review21.3 (2013): 415-447. Solove, Daniel J., and Paul Schwartz. Information privacy law. Wolters Kluwer Law Business, 2014 [1] Solove, Daniel J., and Paul Schwartz. Information privacy law. Wolters Kluwer Law Business, 2014. [2] Davis Giardina, Traber, et al. "Patient access to medical records and healthcare outcomes: a systematic review." Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association 21.4 (2013): 737-741. [3] "Medical Council Of India."Mciindia.Org, 2018, https://www.mciindia.org/ActivitiWebClient/rulesnregulations/codeofMedicalEthicsRegulations2002. "Right To Information."Rti.Gov.In, 2018, https://rti.gov.in/. [4] "Right To Information."Rti.Gov.In, 2018, https://rti.gov.in/. [5] "Rules For Information Technology Act 2000 | Ministry Of Electronics And Information Technology, Government Of India."Meity.Gov.In, 2018, https://meity.gov.in/content/rules-information-technology-act-2000. [6] "The Medical And Health Sector - Data Protection ...." https://www.dataprotection.ie/docs/The-Medical-and-Health-Sector/m/245.htm.