Ethical Decisions in Medical Records

Ethical decisions in medical records
Student’s Name
Institution
Course
Date
ETHICAL DECISIONS IN MEDICAL RECORDS
Introduction
In today’s healthcare organizations, ensuring patients receive quality and avoid harm is essential. These are generally the foundations of ethical practices in every healthcare organization. However, many institutions still need to meet the guidelines of organizational code of ethics policies, especially with the use of medical records. As a result, many patients fear that unauthorized users or even hackers might disclose personal health information. It is important to note that medical records should only be disclosed to families or friends without obtaining permission from the owner. In most cases, a written legal document stating that someone allowed personal health information to be shared with a third party is used. Thus, every healthcare provider must ensure patient information cannot be disclosed to third parties without permission from the patient.
One of healthcare professionals' biggest challenges regarding medical records is confidentiality and privacy. Jacquemard et al. (2021) assert patients always have the right to keep their medical health information to themselves by not disclosing them to second and third parties. This means doctors are only allowed if a patient has allowed these individuals to assess such information. However, there are exceptional cases, especially if one is mentally ill or underage. Afzal & Arshad (2021) asserts that in such cases, legal representatives are in charge of their medical records, and other parties can access them through law. Thus, health practitioners must ensure the health information of their clients is only communicated to them and appropriate people if need be.
Another challenge about medical records that health practitioners experience is the implememtation of electronic health records. With the development of new technology, most healthcare organizations have automated their processes. This means that the health information of patients is stored in computers. Although this has made work easy for this individual, it endangers the disclosure and privacy of patient information to unknown parties. Afzal & Arshad (2021) notes that a security breach is a major threatening factor when the privacy of a client is disclosed through the transfer of information by employees without their permission. In this case, healthcare institutions that have implemented electronic health records must ensure they have encrypted passwords to reduce easy access to computers by people who do not have authorization. At the same time, they must ensure these passwords are kept from other people until a patient is permitted to share.
Au...