Policy Formation Discussion

Policy Formation
Name
Institutional affiliation

Policy Formation
The problem
The development of information technology is beneficial in the development of health care provision (Boonstra, Versluis, & Vos, 2014). Particularly, electronic health care records are paramount in providing sustainable services through accurate documentations, preservation, and the ability to retrieve relevant information. Additionally, the systems have been important in research and developing solutions to challenges in the provision of care (Ginsberg, 2013). As a result, as the doctors and hospitals go digital with the medical records, there has been an increase in the size and frequency of data breaches. Consequently, such circumstances lead to the loss of data to attackers, putting patients at risk of losing their privacy and other critical information (Pironti, 2008). Also, health records have become a target by various parties who are after critical data that offer a range of details, including social security numbers, family relations, as well as financial records. The stolen material is used in criminal activities including impersonation and subsequent benefits offered to the patient (NIST , 2011). Keeping the electronic records safe has presented challenges to the health practitioners, administrators, and the government. Despite the different approaches that have been implemented to secure data, various individuals, including attackers and health care personnel thwart the efforts by stealing or interfering with records. The hacking culture started began between the 1960s and 1970s. Intellectuals who independently have an interest in exploring the unknown aspects of information technology resulted to ethical and unethical hacking habits (IT Policy Compliance Group, 2010). Black hat hackers have contributed to devastating challenges experienced in the IT world. The loss of medical information is not only because of hacking, but also as a consequence of careless workers and thieves who physically break into the health centers.
The need for a policy
Health care records are a powerful tool that enables physicians to follow up their patients’ medical history and identify the patterns that help in developing solutions to their illnesses. The main purpose of health care records is to ensure that medical practitioners provide quality health care (Berry, 2015). Fundamentally, they are essential in the current ventures in medical facilities around the world to offer patient-centered health care services. Considering that medical records are a living document, they tell an individual’s story and facilitates each encounter with health personnel that contributes to their care. Additionally, the records are a legal, regulatory, and auditing requirement. Hospitals collect information about their patients to facilitate comprehensive and high-quality care through the optimization of resources, enhancing efficiency, and coordination in the situation where there is a need for team-based and inter-professional operations (Ginsberg, 2013). A policy on the protection of medical records has roots in the following aspects:
The quality of care. The information contained in health documentation contributes to the consistency and the...