By Marian Merritt | July 2009 Back to Columns

Summary

Technology is used everywhere in the medical field, and its growing use adds both convenience and risk. Let’s have an examination of the issue, shall we?

The Convenience Factor

There’s no doubt that our lives are made easier with the information that is available on the Internet when it comes to our health. When you, your spouse, or your child show any signs of illness, or even if there’s a general question you might have about anything from an insect bite to an achy muscle, you might consult the Internet for research before you even call your doctor.

Things To Consider

When you do go onto any medical-related website for information, be sure to consider the following:

• How current is it?
  As quickly as medical science and advances in treatment evolve, there’s a good chance that information on websites don’t get updated as quickly. Be sure to check dates of articles to make sure they are current. Also, don’t take the word of just one website, but try getting to as many as you can so you get consensus rather than relying on a single source for your medical information and advice.
• Who’s really providing the advice?
  When you do research on medical issues, you may land on pages that are not completely unbiased. The website you look at may be sponsored by a drug manufacturer or pharmaceutical company that is pushing their products. If the website ends in an .edu (for education) or .gov (for government affiliation) the chances of the information being less biased is greater, and you know it’s probably not affiliated with one company or product.
• Can discussion groups be trusted?
  Be wary and cautious about taking advice from discussion groups. Though you may get good insight about the emotional support that people need for certain diseases and maladies, you need to remember that the advice and recommendations you get in a discussion group is not being dispensed as professional, or even safe or accurate. These are people that are just ‘discussing’ what they heard, what they think is true, or what they want to believe is true.

Working With Your Doctor Online

More and more doctors are using email to communicate directly with their patients, and this is a good thing. There’s nothing like getting a direct response from the doctor, and it’s even better not to have to try to decipher a doctor’s handwriting! (This is when you’re supposed to LOL.)

Seriously speaking, the trend toward direct communication with family physicians and other medical specialists is a great advantage. It can save time, gas, and money, plus provide you with the information you need immediately. But, do these new processes and systems mean less actual face-time with your doctors while they learn how to use the new software? Will your doctor rely on email instead of recommending that you come in for an office visit? These are issues that will be tested as these new methods are adopted.

Even if you’re away from home, having a direct link to your physician is something that families will certainly covet as it becomes more and more common for doctors to respond in this manner. The risk for the patient is that if anyone else in the household has the same email access, or text message access, then the rights to complete privacy are jeopardized.

Another thing to keep in mind is emailing and IMing from the workplace. Most companies have a policy – be it written or not – that electronic correspondence generated or received on company time, and using company resources, is subject to review and there should be no expectation of privacy. So, you may want to reconsider having any health-related correspondence at work if you want to help ensure complete privacy for yourself and your family.

How Safe Are Your Medical Records?

We know that your health records – including X-rays, test results, lab findings, and other private information – are all stored electronically. They are also passed between health professionals electronically too. For example, test results from a lab are sent to your primary physician. Those same results might be forwarded to a specialist for further scrutiny. The results of those findings might be forwarded to your insurance company to determine coverage. The advantages include the reduction of human error and the quickness and efficiency of passing information from one place to another.

This trend will certainly continue to grow because the current U.S. administration is set to provide up to 20 billion dollars toward the creation of a national electronic health records system that would, according to a recent article in ComputerWorld, “fundamentally improve the way in which health information is electronically accessed, stored, and shared.”

Of course this information is extremely private, and you want to keep it that way. You don’t want any unauthorized individuals looking at your medical history. Unfortunately, health care providers and insurance companies have, in the past, been vulnerable to hackers and information on patients has been stolen.

Why, you might ask, would anyone want your medical information? Well, think about it. Along with your medical information is all your insurance data. This includes your social security number, your insurance ID numbers, group numbers, family member names, ages, and all the personal information that is required when you first sign up for insurance. Not only can this information lead to classic identity theft, but more specifically, you can become the victim of insurance theft. This is when unscrupulous individuals use your insurance information to pay medical expenses including doctor visits, hospital stays, or even voluntary surgeries.

A colleague of mine was informed twice within three years that her personal information might’ve gotten into unauthorized hands due to laptops getting stolen at a medical records office. She was informed, via a letter in the mail, that she should keep an eye on her credit card and insurance information for any fraudulent use.

It’s all incredibly efficient, but is your privacy at risk?

What You Can Do

The best thing to do is be aware and informed! Ask your health care providers and insurance companies what systems and procedures they have in place to protect and secure your personal medical data, and whether they’re staying current with the trends of hacking and other illegal attempts to steal electronic information. Let them know - in writing - that this is important and you consider it a huge factor when selecting the companies that you use as a consumer.

You know I love to hear from you. Please write to me at marian@norton.com.

Related Links

Product: Norton 360: Protect your PC, files, and identity
April 2009: Computer World: Privacy Rules Slow Adoption of Electronic Medical Records
Wired or Wireless – Secure Your Home Network
Identity Theft Gets More Personal
How Are You Protecting Your Privacy on the Web?