Oral

Bringing information technology to medical care has become a national priority. It promises to transform one of the largest sectors of the economy. But it will only work if, from the start and at every step, it involves -- to quote a Veterans' Administration nurse -- "the people who touch the patients." This session will address the impact and implications of HIT for both health care workers and for patients. It will explore why involving front-line health care workers early in the design and development of any HIT system, and keeping them involved, is crucial, and will illustrate this by drawing on different experiences with HIT in several settings. It will examine a core issue that has repeatedly surfaced in electronic health information initiatives: How to appropriately protect the privacy and security of health information in an interconnected system. While an interoperable system of electronic health information holds many potential benefits for patients and all consumers of health care, including better coordination of health care regardless of patient location, higher quality and more efficient care, increased system transparency, and patient access to information about providers that allows them to make better decisions, it also raises serious concerns about personal privacy, data security and the potential misuse of their information. The session will address concerns about individual access and control, privacy and confidentiality, reliability, and the ways personal medical information may be used and the necessary measures to address these concerns.

Session Objectives: 1) Recognize and discuss the challenges posed for health care workers by the transformation of health care in the United States through health information technology. 2) Evaluate and discuss the need to involve health care workers in the planning, design and implementation of all health information technology projects. 3) Describe and discuss a range of health care worker experiences with the design and implementation of health information technology. 4) Recognize and discuss the patient privacy issues involved in the development and use of electronic health information and the safeguards that can be implemented.

CE Credits: CME, Health Education (CHES), Nursing