Book Review: Chapter 12: Health Information Technology: Challenges in Ethics, Science,

and Uncertainty

 

Book: The-handbook-of-information-and-computer-ethic

 

Author: Kenneth W. Goodman

 

Library Reference: N/A

 

Amazon Reference:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Handbook-Information-Computer-Ethics/dp/0471799599/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1233037513&sr=1-1

 

 

 

Quote:

“Humans use tools to do extraordinary things.”

 

Learning Expectations

 

·         Why is it called the health information technology?

·         Expect to learn the challenges on this topic?

·         Why ethics again involved here?

 

Review:

 

It is sadly and too often the case that many professionals regard ethics as a source of codes for the edification of the not-yet-virtuous, as a place where pointy-headed bowfins pass judgment on heathens, as an office to call in search of someone with a horse and a sword to come .round to smite the evildoers.

 

There is arguably no better trigger for reflection on morality and its relationship to the lawand society than privacy and its cousin, confidentiality. The demands of privacy are intuitively straightforward and the consequences of its violation obvious

 

The chapter even included privacy in health information technology. Privacy is, most generally, as discussed in the chapter, the right entitlement or reasonable expectation people have that they are and will be secure from intrusion. Given the example in the chapter, it is obvious that society values both personal privacy and the law enforcement but in some cases, the police officer investigating a crime may and, in fact, must take steps to justify that her official need is worth the intrusion. “Put differently, privacy rights are not absolute, but may be balanced against other values. The same is true for confidentiality, which applies to information—medical records, for instance. Where privacy is customarily about people, confidentiality applies to information about people. Privacy is also sometimes regarded as including within its scope people’s concern about protecting confidentiality. Privacy is a broader concept.” – indeed as a broader concept yet privacy still serve as one of the most studied factor in information technology and one that is most protected.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since we are talking here about health information, I can say that computers complicate medical privacy and confidentiality in interesting ways. According to a sentinel Institute of Medicine analysis, a number of entities demand patient information to “assess the health of the public and patterns of illness and injury;

identify unmet.

 

 

 

 

What I’ve learned:

 

As stated on the book, Computers have been reckoned both to make it easier than paper records to acquire medical information inappropriately. They have misused the computer. But again, computer is non-living things and computer cannot control our mind.

 

We value accuracy and efficiency, but it should be uncontroversial to hypothesize that some people are

Prepared, in principle, to delegate to machines that which confounds those healers. And we value control over all of this, while hoping that the tools used to manage our health require sacrifices that are not burdensome.

 

To meet these challenges, we turn to various forms of inquiry: science and ethics.

There is of course no alternative.

 

 

Integrative Questions:

 

1.     Is it literally called “Health”?

2.     Why this topic need also a privacy and confidentiality

3.     The difference of privacy and confidentiality?

4.     What is the value of accuracy?

5.     What are the challenges to this topic?

Citations: N/A