Protecting Patient Privacy Easy access raises new issues of confidentiality. Now, hundreds can have access at the same time. We've enlarged the problem. Computer systems have to be designed so that sensitive information, such as HIV status, is protected from view by unauthorized people, explained Ross, assistant director of the MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics at the University of Chicago. Tang believes that computers are the best choice for ensuring privacy.
Computers can block unauthorized people from viewing certain records or parts of records.
And, by permanently recording who has accessed each patient record, the computer can disclose the names of people who have violated the access rules. As computer systems are being developed and refined and as standardization and privacy issues are being tackled, McDonald cautions against expecting computers to do too much. All rights reserved.